Cooperation vs Competition LO6585

Dr Ilfryn Price (101701.3454@compuserve.com)
Tue, 9 Apr 1996 17:02:58 -0400

Replying to LO6494 --

Replying specifically to John Farrango but also to others especially the
post that reminded us of 'co-eptition' - sorry I've lost the reference in
a file of recent posts.

John what sepcificallt triggers this response was

>Nature too - the whole of evolution, survival of the fittest and
ecological balance - is based on competition for limited resources, with
winners and losers. Of course, nature too has lovely examples of
(deliberate or otherwise) co-operation.

I see nature somewhat differently as co-eptition. The authority I offer is
none other than Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene.:

'The manufacture of a body is a cooperative venture of such intricacy that
it is impossible to disentangle the contribution of one gene from
another'.

There is a lot more, and some edifying discussion by Dawkins in the second
edition where he responds to people who read the title more than the text.
The point, though his use of language would almost certainly preclude
co-eptition, is that this intricate collaboration to compete is the
essence of the natural world. The Game theory point made by Mike in LO6483
is relevant here. Life is an infinite game with many finite subsets.

We should, I offer, be discussing less the distinction of competition and
collaboration and more how we foster both and influence the direction the
result takes. Otherwise can we condemn its outcomes? As an example some
very succesful - from their perspective - highly competitive individuals
and organisations have spontaneously collaborated to create some side
effects that we - rightly from my perspective - tend to deplore on this
list [Investment banks, junk bond dealers, corporate raiders, 'fat cat
CEOs' and certain kinds of consultants could be said to have spontaneously
collaborated out of competitive self interest to create the short termism
commented on at length in recent weeks].

If Price
The Harrow Partnership
Pewley Fort Guildford UK
101701.3454@compuserve.com

-- 

Dr Ilfryn Price <101701.3454@compuserve.com>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>