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ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Selfish Traits Not Favored By Evolution
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<blockquote data-quote="findingmyway" data-source="post: 188932" data-attributes="member: 12855"><p>This is an interesting alternative viewpoint</p><p><a href="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm" target="_blank">http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm</a></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #000066"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Co-operation did not evolve, co-operation</span></span><em><span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">is</span></span></em></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Kevin Loughran</span></p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Co-operation is a problem, when seen within a process of Darwinian evolution. Robert Axelrod put the problem simply when he asked (1984):</span><a href="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn1" target="_blank">http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn1</a><em><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> under what conditions would co-operation emerge in a world of egoists? Surely those who co-operate would lose out in the individual struggle for existence. Yet Robert Axelrod acknowledged that co-operation was common in nature, between members of the same species and between different species.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">How can the reality of co-operation be reconciled with the individual struggle for existence? The standard explanation is that co-operation has emerged over time: it has evolved, in nature and among human beings. And co-operation has evolved (so the explanation goes) because various life forms from the most elementary to the most complex – to human beings – discover in time that helping others can be in their individual interests.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">This explanation implies that co-operation has evolved where previously behaviour and forms of association were not co-operative. It has evolved from a state of individual existence and the material of individual self-interest. Matt Ridley (1996)</span><a href="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn2" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> recognised this implication when he declared that the first life on earth had been atomistic and individual, but that increasingly forms of life came together and life became “a team game.”</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The problem with the standard explanation is that it doesn’t work, when examined closely. It is not justified by the evidence which is available, or at least the evidence which is presented. Certainly evidence can be presented to demonstrate that particular modes of co-operation have evolved. But evidence to support the belief that co-operation in general has evolved where previously behaviour and forms of association were not co-operative is much less certain.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Take for example co-operation among human beings. Carel Van Schaik argued (2004)</span><a href="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn3" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> that the solitary life was the ‘ancestral state’ for all mammals. But when did human beings lead solitary lives? John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmary (1999)</span><a href="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn4" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="color: blue"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> observed that social intelligence is a common characteristic of primates. They concluded that the process of natural selection, working in favour of social intelligence, was a major cause of the increase in brain size of monkeys, apes and humans. Perhaps the first human beings were distinguished from other primates by even greater social intelligence and an even greater capacity for co-operation.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">And can we say with certainly who the first human beings were? Various hominid species have been identified since the emergence of ‘Australopithecus’ over four million years ago. They might be considered to be our ancestors – or simply as species of great ape with some human-like characteristics, from which in time human beings evolved. Perhaps the emergence of ‘homo sapiens’ between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago could be taken as the beginning of humanity as we know it. Or perhaps the explosion of innovation in tool-making, in art, in trading, in culture in general that has been identified around 40,000 years ago should be considered as the true beginning. Do we know enough to be able to say with any certainty? Perhaps the ‘symbolic revolution’ – the use of symbols to share information and represent ideas – marks the emergence of modern humans. Genevieve von Petzinger speculated that the symbolic revolution may have occurred before the arrival of the first modern humans in Europe (see: Kate Ravillous. ‘Messages from the Stone Age’, New<em> Scientist, </em>20 Feb. 2010).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">But perhaps co-operation emerged at a much earlier stage of life and human beings – whenever recognisable human beings emerged – simply inherited a capacity for co-operation from earlier forms of life. So what statements can be made about the beginnings of life?</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">One view is that all forms of life can be traced back to a single form – the last universal common ancestor or LUCA. Another view has emerged that life began in a pool of genes shared among many primitive beings working through the process known as horizontal gene transfer. Eventually cells became more complex and specialised and so less interchangeable. (‘Born in a Watery Commune’, <em>Nature, </em>Vol. 427, 19th February 2004).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Carl Woese has suggested that Darwinian evolution (the process of evolution as conceived and described by Charles Darwin) may not have been the original form of evolution. There may have been an earlier phase of evolution dominated by horizontal gene transfer; and it would have been in this phase that the universal genetic code arose (see: Mark Buchanan. ‘Another Kind of Evolution’, <em>New Scientist, </em>23 January 2010). Indeed, Carl Woese has proposed that the three fundamental types of cells – eubacteria, archaea and eukaryotes – evolved independently of each other and not in a line from a common ancestor (see: ‘On the Evolution of Cells’, <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, </em>Vol. 99, No. 13, June 2002).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">But Peter Antonelli and Solange Rutz (2004) used mathematical equations to describe the world which may have existed with a last universal community in which horizontal gene transfer was common or universal, and they concluded that it would have been mathematically unstable. It would have fallen apart. It was not, in their judgement, a realistic idea. (‘Born in a Watery Commune’, see above).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Furthermore, Douglas L. Theobald has developed a formal test which, it is claimed, provides statistical evidence for the unity of all known life. The claim is that all known life has at least one common ancestor (LUCA), although this may not have been the first organism on Earth (see: <em>Nature</em>, Vol. 465, May 2010).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">So there is a wide range of opinion and argument as to when life emerged, in what form and by what process. </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">There is even speculation that life on this planet may have had origins beyond this planet. </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">So is it reasonable to maintain that the first life on earth was atomistic and individual, as Matt Ridley did, if there is no agreement as to how life began?</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">And is it reasonable to maintain, as Robert Axelrod did, that co-operation emerged in a world of egoists if it cannot be agreed when co-operation evolved? Perhaps co-operation emerged first among primitive life forms. Evidence has been found both for co-operative behaviour and competitive behaviour among bacteria. (See Dale Kaiser and Richard Losick in ‘How Bacteria Communicate’, <em>Scientific American </em>, February 1997; and Lee Kroos, Richard Lenski and Gregory Velicer in ‘Developmental Cheating in the Social Bacterium MX’, <em>Nature, </em>6th April 2000). Perhaps co-operation emerged first among our primate ancestors. Perhaps co-operation between human beings emerged first during the Pleistocene Period, as Robert Trivers suggested in <em>Social Evolution </em>(1985). Perhaps co-operation evolved recurrently as John Maynard Smith proposed. (Quoted in ‘A Tale of Two Selves’, Science, 3 November 2000).</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The closer we try to get to the origins of co-operation, the more we try to explore the problem of co-operation and the standard explanation for it, then the more problematic the standard explanation becomes. Why then do we continue to assume that co-operation is the outcome of a process of evolution?</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Seeing a world full of egoists, or deciding that the first life on earth was atomistic and individual, or that the solitary life was the ancestral state of all mammals – these are as much assertions of belief as conclusions drawn directly from systematic observations and analysis. They represent a way of imagining the world. It is a way which is shaped by and dependent on Charles Darwin’s idea of the individual struggle for existence. Life evolves through the workings of natural selection and natural selection acts by competition between individual organisms.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The significance in this context of the individual struggle for existence is that it is not presented simply as a common or pervasive principle of life but as a universal principle. It offers a complete explanation of the way things are. If the individual struggle for existence is accepted as a universal principle in the development of life then of course co-operation – which is undoubtedly a reality – has evolved.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">But to regard the individual struggle for existence as a universal principle means that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution ceases to be a powerful tool which explained much then and explains much now. It becomes articles of faith. In this sense it resembles Karl Marx’s assertion at the beginning of the <em>Communist Manifesto</em> that the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle. Both ideas – of the individual struggle for existence and of the history of class struggle – seem to reflect a belief that it is possible to have a complete explanation of the way things are.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The standard explanation, that co-operation is the outcome of a process of evolution, simply doesn’t work as a complete explanation of the way things are. It doesn’t explain the reality of co-operation properly, although it can help to explain the emergence of particular modes of co-operation.</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">I would propose an alternative to the standard explanation. Co-operation as a general or common state of existence did not evolve. If from the beginning there were forms of life which were distinct from each other, which had some degree of existence apart from each other but could also interact with each other: then from the beginning there was a capacity for co-operation as well as a capacity for competition. Co-operative behaviour and competitive behaviour are recurrent and parallel themes of existence from the earliest and most primitive life forms to human beings and human societies. There is some evidence to support this argument. Is there any evidence to contradict it?</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Co-operation did not evolve. Co-operation <strong><em>is</em></strong>.</span></em></p><p><em> <p style="text-align: center"><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></p></em></p><p style="text-align: center"><em><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></p> </p><p></em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="findingmyway, post: 188932, member: 12855"] This is an interesting alternative viewpoint [url]http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm[/url] [COLOR=#000066][FONT=Arial]Co-operation did not evolve, co-operation[/FONT][/COLOR][I][COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]is[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][B][U][COLOR=#000066][FONT=Arial][/FONT][/COLOR][/U][/B] [FONT=Arial]Kevin Loughran[/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Co-operation is a problem, when seen within a process of Darwinian evolution. Robert Axelrod put the problem simply when he asked (1984):[/FONT][URL="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn1"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][i][/i][/FONT][i][/i][/COLOR][i][/i][/FONT][i][/i][/COLOR][i][/i][/URL][i][FONT=Arial] under what conditions would co-operation emerge in a world of egoists? Surely those who co-operate would lose out in the individual struggle for existence. Yet Robert Axelrod acknowledged that co-operation was common in nature, between members of the same species and between different species.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]How can the reality of co-operation be reconciled with the individual struggle for existence? The standard explanation is that co-operation has emerged over time: it has evolved, in nature and among human beings. And co-operation has evolved (so the explanation goes) because various life forms from the most elementary to the most complex – to human beings – discover in time that helping others can be in their individual interests.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]This explanation implies that co-operation has evolved where previously behaviour and forms of association were not co-operative. It has evolved from a state of individual existence and the material of individual self-interest. Matt Ridley (1996)[/FONT][URL="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn2"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][ii][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Arial] recognised this implication when he declared that the first life on earth had been atomistic and individual, but that increasingly forms of life came together and life became “a team game.”[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]The problem with the standard explanation is that it doesn’t work, when examined closely. It is not justified by the evidence which is available, or at least the evidence which is presented. Certainly evidence can be presented to demonstrate that particular modes of co-operation have evolved. But evidence to support the belief that co-operation in general has evolved where previously behaviour and forms of association were not co-operative is much less certain.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Take for example co-operation among human beings. Carel Van Schaik argued (2004)[/FONT][URL="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn3"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][iii][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Arial] that the solitary life was the ‘ancestral state’ for all mammals. But when did human beings lead solitary lives? John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmary (1999)[/FONT][URL="http://cooperation-community.apjpublications.co.uk/coop2.htm#_edn4"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][COLOR=blue][FONT=Arial][iv][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Arial] observed that social intelligence is a common characteristic of primates. They concluded that the process of natural selection, working in favour of social intelligence, was a major cause of the increase in brain size of monkeys, apes and humans. Perhaps the first human beings were distinguished from other primates by even greater social intelligence and an even greater capacity for co-operation.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]And can we say with certainly who the first human beings were? Various hominid species have been identified since the emergence of ‘Australopithecus’ over four million years ago. They might be considered to be our ancestors – or simply as species of great ape with some human-like characteristics, from which in time human beings evolved. Perhaps the emergence of ‘homo sapiens’ between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago could be taken as the beginning of humanity as we know it. Or perhaps the explosion of innovation in tool-making, in art, in trading, in culture in general that has been identified around 40,000 years ago should be considered as the true beginning. Do we know enough to be able to say with any certainty? Perhaps the ‘symbolic revolution’ – the use of symbols to share information and represent ideas – marks the emergence of modern humans. Genevieve von Petzinger speculated that the symbolic revolution may have occurred before the arrival of the first modern humans in Europe (see: Kate Ravillous. ‘Messages from the Stone Age’, New[I] Scientist, [/I]20 Feb. 2010).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]But perhaps co-operation emerged at a much earlier stage of life and human beings – whenever recognisable human beings emerged – simply inherited a capacity for co-operation from earlier forms of life. So what statements can be made about the beginnings of life?[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]One view is that all forms of life can be traced back to a single form – the last universal common ancestor or LUCA. Another view has emerged that life began in a pool of genes shared among many primitive beings working through the process known as horizontal gene transfer. Eventually cells became more complex and specialised and so less interchangeable. (‘Born in a Watery Commune’, [I]Nature, [/I]Vol. 427, 19th February 2004).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Carl Woese has suggested that Darwinian evolution (the process of evolution as conceived and described by Charles Darwin) may not have been the original form of evolution. There may have been an earlier phase of evolution dominated by horizontal gene transfer; and it would have been in this phase that the universal genetic code arose (see: Mark Buchanan. ‘Another Kind of Evolution’, [I]New Scientist, [/I]23 January 2010). Indeed, Carl Woese has proposed that the three fundamental types of cells – eubacteria, archaea and eukaryotes – evolved independently of each other and not in a line from a common ancestor (see: ‘On the Evolution of Cells’, [I]Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [/I]Vol. 99, No. 13, June 2002).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]But Peter Antonelli and Solange Rutz (2004) used mathematical equations to describe the world which may have existed with a last universal community in which horizontal gene transfer was common or universal, and they concluded that it would have been mathematically unstable. It would have fallen apart. It was not, in their judgement, a realistic idea. (‘Born in a Watery Commune’, see above).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Furthermore, Douglas L. Theobald has developed a formal test which, it is claimed, provides statistical evidence for the unity of all known life. The claim is that all known life has at least one common ancestor (LUCA), although this may not have been the first organism on Earth (see: [I]Nature[/I], Vol. 465, May 2010).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]So there is a wide range of opinion and argument as to when life emerged, in what form and by what process. [/FONT][FONT=Arial]There is even speculation that life on this planet may have had origins beyond this planet. [/FONT][FONT=Arial]So is it reasonable to maintain that the first life on earth was atomistic and individual, as Matt Ridley did, if there is no agreement as to how life began?[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]And is it reasonable to maintain, as Robert Axelrod did, that co-operation emerged in a world of egoists if it cannot be agreed when co-operation evolved? Perhaps co-operation emerged first among primitive life forms. Evidence has been found both for co-operative behaviour and competitive behaviour among bacteria. (See Dale Kaiser and Richard Losick in ‘How Bacteria Communicate’, [I]Scientific American [/I], February 1997; and Lee Kroos, Richard Lenski and Gregory Velicer in ‘Developmental Cheating in the Social Bacterium MX’, [I]Nature, [/I]6th April 2000). Perhaps co-operation emerged first among our primate ancestors. Perhaps co-operation between human beings emerged first during the Pleistocene Period, as Robert Trivers suggested in [I]Social Evolution [/I](1985). Perhaps co-operation evolved recurrently as John Maynard Smith proposed. (Quoted in ‘A Tale of Two Selves’, Science, 3 November 2000).[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]The closer we try to get to the origins of co-operation, the more we try to explore the problem of co-operation and the standard explanation for it, then the more problematic the standard explanation becomes. Why then do we continue to assume that co-operation is the outcome of a process of evolution?[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Seeing a world full of egoists, or deciding that the first life on earth was atomistic and individual, or that the solitary life was the ancestral state of all mammals – these are as much assertions of belief as conclusions drawn directly from systematic observations and analysis. They represent a way of imagining the world. It is a way which is shaped by and dependent on Charles Darwin’s idea of the individual struggle for existence. Life evolves through the workings of natural selection and natural selection acts by competition between individual organisms.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]The significance in this context of the individual struggle for existence is that it is not presented simply as a common or pervasive principle of life but as a universal principle. It offers a complete explanation of the way things are. If the individual struggle for existence is accepted as a universal principle in the development of life then of course co-operation – which is undoubtedly a reality – has evolved.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]But to regard the individual struggle for existence as a universal principle means that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution ceases to be a powerful tool which explained much then and explains much now. It becomes articles of faith. In this sense it resembles Karl Marx’s assertion at the beginning of the [I]Communist Manifesto[/I] that the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle. Both ideas – of the individual struggle for existence and of the history of class struggle – seem to reflect a belief that it is possible to have a complete explanation of the way things are.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]The standard explanation, that co-operation is the outcome of a process of evolution, simply doesn’t work as a complete explanation of the way things are. It doesn’t explain the reality of co-operation properly, although it can help to explain the emergence of particular modes of co-operation.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]I would propose an alternative to the standard explanation. Co-operation as a general or common state of existence did not evolve. If from the beginning there were forms of life which were distinct from each other, which had some degree of existence apart from each other but could also interact with each other: then from the beginning there was a capacity for co-operation as well as a capacity for competition. Co-operative behaviour and competitive behaviour are recurrent and parallel themes of existence from the earliest and most primitive life forms to human beings and human societies. There is some evidence to support this argument. Is there any evidence to contradict it?[/FONT] [FONT=Arial] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Co-operation did not evolve. Co-operation [B][I]is[/I][/B].[/FONT] [CENTER][CENTER][FONT=Arial] [/FONT][/CENTER][/CENTER][/i] [/QUOTE]
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