Sunday, March 27, 2011

NonZero by Robert Wright

http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780679758945-5

Every nonzero (win-win) situation, has within it a zero-sum game (win-lose).

"Tragedy of the Commons" (Garret Harden): allowing overgrazing or overfishing by private means, that hurts or destroys the stock of the common.  Regulatory restraint benefits all enterprises; for example, "hunting season."...so that "dear and ducks will live to die another day."

An interesting analysis of Big Man government (and non-zero sum games of greater complexity and wealth production) among Northwest coast tribes.

The rituals and language of kinship extend the values of non-zero. 38

constant war: a negative sum game. 60

most would choose submissness to death: war need not be  a zero-sum game; in the "Art of War" Sun Tzu recognizes the lose-lose nature of war with the suggestion: leave your enemies a means of escape. 61

The dynamic of cultural evolution suggests that what is selected for is larger and larger expanses of non-zero-sumness, but on of the main selectors is the zero-sum dimension of war. "Waging war is waging peace." 64

Dawkins: memes, or bits of cultural knowledge (beliefs, values, etc.) are like viruses...they infect you and pass it to others. 89  For Dawkins, and philosophers like Daniel Dennett, belief in God is virus. 89

Memes pass among groups, and are selected by cultural evolution.  Meme's that bring productive harmony get admired and adopted.

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