The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation [Paperback]

Ridleys main argument is to show that human cooperation is not- contrary to popular thought- a biproduct of government and law, but a natural development. What's odd about this is that cooperation seems to come straight out of the prisoners dilemma which is generally depicted as a selfish game. For those not familiar, in brief, the prisoners dilemma is- 2 or more players are in a game. If each cooperates with eachother, they share the reward equally but if one deciedes to cheat the others, she alone gets the full reward. Rationallity dictates that it's in the individuals interst to cheat, getting the full reward. Ridley shows us that emotions, possibly evolutionary ones, come in to counter this and encourage cooperation. In other words, Ridley blows holes in the theory that cooperation comes out of 'group selection'- rather, it comes from individual selection.

The only problem with books as inter-disciplinary as this one, is that one doubts from time to time whether the author really knows about biology, government, law, psychology, anthropology, history AND philosophical ethics. I can't say that Ridley is definitely overstretching. His statements do appear sound and error free. Still, his tendency to make sweeping statements in so many fields detracts from his credability. Not enough to loose a star though.

For the interested reader, another great book on the evolution of law as an extention of human nature (coming to much the same conclusion as Ridley's) is Judge Richard Posner's "The Economics of Justice." Albeit a bit more academic and not as coversational, Posner's book serves as a good paralell read to Ridley's.

Matt Ridley does not deny that individuals can act out of selfishness bu he argues that harmony generally prevails over selfishness. This book explains the paradox that our minds have been build by selfish genes to be social, trustworthy and co-operative. He says we owe our success as a species to these social instincts. He explains that morality is the stuff society is made of. In short his argument goes like this:

1. Society is important because is allows for divison of labor. It allows for people to specialize. And the sums of all our specialized efforts are greater than they would be if we all had been generalists. In other words: society is synergy between specialists.

2. In order to have a harmonious society, we have to be well-connected to each other. This requires us to be co-operative, social and trustworthy.

3. Being social, co-operative and trustworthy is a way to thrive and thereby an evolutionairy advantage. These traits are built into our nature by evolution.

Matt Ridley carefully argues his case. He uses findings from many disciplines like biology, psychology and economics. Very important parts of this book, and a delight to read, are the chapters where he explains the great work of Robert Axelrod (see: The Evolution of Co-operation, 1984) and the inspiring theory of moral sentiments of economist (!) Robert Frank (see: Passions within Reason, 1988).

The message of this book is important. One lesson is that it is wise to teach our children to be good, because in the long run it pays. If you only act rationally (in the sense of the rational man from economic theory) you can only expect to reap short-term benefits. Another wise suggestion is that we need to build our institutions in such a way that they draw out our co-operative instincts (instead of building mechanisms aimed only at suppressing our supposed selfish nature). Ridley: "Pre-eminently this means the encouragement of exchange between equals. just as trade between countries is the best recipe for friendship between them, so exchange between enfranchised and empowered individuals is the best recipe for co-operation. We must encourage social and material exchange between equals, for that is the raw material of trust, and trust is the foundation of virtue."

Inspiring material...

In Chapter 12 ('The Power of Property'), he argues that conservation is best achieved through private ownership. He admits that this is effective for static resources (trees) and not those resources that move through the owner's area (big game). Then he seems to assert that private ownership is the answer to the problem of pollution. Huh? Air and water (at least for moving bodies of water) are primarily communal in nature, are they not? I fail to see how private ownership can be the answer.

In Chapter 13 ('Trust'), he argues that humans instinctively cooperate, as long as government gets out of the way. He hopes that 'national and international governments wither into their minimal function of national defence...'. After 9/11 it is apparent that defense is not a minimal function and letting international governments 'wither' is exactly the wrong prescription.

In both of the above examples, Ridley makes archaic arguments that fail to recognize the new realities (even before 9/11) brought about by technological evolution. Modern problems are tending to become more global in nature, not local.

Although 'The Origins of Virtue' contains some valuable insights into cooperation, I recommend reading Robert Wright for more reasoned, visionary thinking.

- Ken
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