automobiles, changing how we transported and consequently how and where we worked and lived; Charles Darwin who argued that the difference in mind between humans and other species, great as it is, is one of degree and not of kind; and Albert Einstein who surmised a relationship between energy and matter, opening a universe of possibilities that previously was virtually unimaginable. As a result, the cultural focus moved from a focus on the social group — the family, neighborhood, or society — toward the autonomous individual.
Forty years ago, the dominant metaphor for the human mind was the digital computer, complete with inputs, filing and memory systems, limited processing resources, and outputs. Evolutionary theory focused on the selfish gene and, by extension, on the individual whose purpose for living was to survive long enough to reproduce. Milton Friedman influenced economic theory and government policies for decades by positing that people, being fundamentally rational, are motivated first and foremost by self interests, and the adage of “united we stand, divided we fall” was supplanted by the notion that what is best for the me is best for the society. Moving from an economy based on manufacturing for the masses to one based on catering to idiosyncratic consumer interests further fueled a focus on the preferences of the autonomous individual.
One can certainly find evidence in humans and other species for the view of life being best understood in terms of self-interest. Sardines, for example, swim in what appears to be synchronized schools until approached by a predator, at which time they dart about so chaotically that they create what appears
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to be a large, tumultuous ball with a mind of its own. The rule governing the behavior of this dynamic and adaptive collective action can be explained entirely in terms of self-interests. Each fish is driven to swim to the middle, where it is less likely to be eaten by the hungry predator. Sardines are born with the capacity to swim, find food, and avoid predators. If they survive long enough to reproduce, their genes will be part of the gene pool for future generations. That is, if those who are genetically predisposed to swim to the middle are more likely to survive predation, then the genetic predisposition to swim to the middle will become a characteristic of a larger percentage of sardines in future generations.
The sardine ball is an example of a more general phenomenon, in which the choices made by members of a group endow the collective with properties that are consistent, predictable, and purposive enough that we can speak of them as “behaviors” of the group, even though the collective actions of the group are not directed by any of the individual members. This phenomenon can be called “emergent,” because the properties or behavior of the group are not determined by any individual but arises from the collective behaviors of the individuals who constitute the group. Social structures like the sardine ball have evolved because the sardines whose genes compelled them to swim to the middle in the presence of predators were more likely to survive to reproduce, thereby contributing these genes to this species’ gene pool.
According to the National Science Foundation’s Tree of Life project, there are anywhere between 5 million and 100 million species on
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