Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

 

One of the best books on societies I have ever read was Robert Wright’s “Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny”. 

 It is a comprehensive account of how biology and societies have evolved all the way from unicellular organisms to more and more complex systems. What is striking is the tensions between stability (kind of feudal authoritarian order), and growth (adaptation and democratic freedoms) have always coexisted (even in less evolved species than Homo Sapiens). So too, competition and cooperation coexist, as does large power dominance and empathy for the little guy. It is a complex and dynamic mixture, very mysterious and often unpredictable about which of these sides is dominant and when - but each having its value. 

However, what is hopeful is that an analysis over time indicates that cooperation (nonzero sum) wins over competition (zero sum), and it is almost a naturally evolving process – there is no central control to this dynamic state, and in fact, central control upsets the dynamism. If left alone, and the mysteries of complexity accepted as a mixture of patterns (competition and cooperation, selfishness and altruism, authoritarian feudalism and liberal democracy) of varying degree at varying time, “systems” evolve and perform for optimal maximum (stability, function, and purpose). 

https://www.amazon.com/Nonzero-Logic-Destiny-Robert-Wright/dp/0679758941 

His subsequent book was titled “Moral Animal” – where he takes the thesis to what morality means (or does not) in this kind of a complex dynamic order, and oftentimes, the moral values obtained or desired in linear simple systems (which is how most people think) don’t hold at all (in fact, are violations) of complex dynamic evolving systems. The conclusion is that survival of systems (as they grow complex) naturally end up favoring cooperation over competition in the long run of adaptive evolution, but does not mean that at every point in time and in every part of the system this will be the case. 

https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Animal-Science-Evolutionary-Psychology/dp/0679763996