11.3 Cooperation

We can now combine mutualism and delayed reciprocity to see how cooperation can evolve. When two individuals begin to rely on each other for exchange, the long-term benefits often outweigh the immediate costs. This is because individual A knows that, when they are in dire need, individual B owes them a favor. And vice versa. Through delayed reciprocity and the trust and reliance built through mutualism, these two individuals become each other’s support system.

Robert Sapolsky, a behavioral biologist and primatologist, argues that even bacteria cooperate and may seem altruistic in their behavior. As a model for the foundations of cooperation, bacteria at times take on extreme costs in support of social group members. Granted, they may not be doing this with the conscious decision-making of your best friend, but the core biological underpinnings of our best traits exist within these small, clonal colonies.

Watch this short clip of Sapolsky’s 2014 lecture on Behavioral Evolution where he explains this model for the evolution of cooperation.