I’ve got a few books to review for the blog for “After Capitalism” that come at what’s next from different perspectives. Abundance from Peter Diamandis of Singularity U believes in tapping into the competitive instinct as the key to moving forward. Indeed he says that “humans are wired to compete.” I’m sure we’ve all seen this or variations suggesting our survival instinct is “survival of the fittest.” And implicitly or explicitly, this is a good thing. Competition weeds out the weak and strengthens the species overall. To restate, this is accepted by many as human nature or wiring. We can’t fight it.
The other book, Think Like a Commoner, which I’m not finished yet, talks about the potential of the commons. It talks about cooperation, and raises questions about the inevitability of selfish humans out to maximize their prospects at the expense of others. I originally titled this piece: “modern values are not wiring” in reaction to the point in Abundance (btw, as you’ll see, I quite like the book even with this disagreement).
So, here’s my take. Those deeply embedded in the modern values paradigm are the core believers in competitive view of human nature. They believe it so strongly that they cite it as inevitable and “hard-wired.” As we’ve explored in the values posts here and in the ConsumerShift book, the developmental view of social change suggests that this high competition stage or phase is just that – a stage. It is not inevitable, hard wired, or human nature. Indeed the transition to postmodern values brings forth a different idea that values the common good. It’s not naive, pie-in-the sky, or utopic, it’s next!
Valuing individual success over the common good is not human nature, but a stage of development.
The idea the our wiring does not prevent us from acting collectively for the common good is a crucial point. So much of the research and thinking on “what’s next” is blinded by this modern values paradigm, and essentially suggests more of the same kinds of solutions. It’s often an excuse for why things can’t be different and why new ideas can’t work. “You can’t fight human nature.” Perhaps that true, but it isn’t human nature – it is a stage of development!
Now, of course, I don’t want to leave the impression that competition is bad or wrong or not useful. We all enjoy winning now and then! Indeed it can be tapped into in quite useful ways (as Diamandis’ Xprize has shown). But let’s not accept it as inevitable. — Andy Hines
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