Cooperation

Biomimicry is copying the patterns of nature. Humans are part of nature, but our intellect has become something so profound it gets in the way of natural instinct. Something about our intellect is constantly trying to trick us into thinking that we are a separate from nature (and each other.) Charles Darwin told us, that nature works competitively, only the strongest survive but natural selection is only partially true. The more we learn about the world the more we realize there is a natural cooperation that happens between species. Ants working in colonies, wolves hunting in packs, fish removing parasites from each other’s scales, and bees will even give their own life for their hive. There are even less noticeable displays of cooperation between different species like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds pollinating for plants, fungi transferring nutrients from plant to plant, and whales protecting other species from sharks. Plants even provide food for us in the form of fruit and we in turn drop the seeds somewhere else for the plant. Taller plants provide smaller plants shade, plants protect bacteria and algae in soil, etc. As the highest form of life, we need to make sure all other life is thriving. To think there is a separation between each other or other living things is an illusion.

“One of the biggest crimes against life is thinking that you are anything but life” -Sadhguru.

Humans are in a fear-based and ego-based competition right now. We are living in what is called dominator culture right now where we take all we can from everything. We dominate nature and we dominate each other, and it is leading to our demise. We can have competition but right now we need a heavy dose of cooperation in society, just like in nature. (see Thomas Edison’s book) Alfie Kohn in his book, Punished by Rewards he writes, “The central message to all competition, in fact – is that everyone else is a potential obstacle to one’s own success. If the reward system sets people up as one another’s rivals, the predictable result is that each will view the other with suspicion and hostility and depending on their relative status, perhaps with contempt or envy as well.” Where there is competition, there will be winners but more so losers. In the classroom or work setting, there is only one winner. When we use cooperation, everyone can be a winner.

“If you don’t believe in cooperation, watch what happens to a wagon when one wheel comes off.” – English Proverb

A simple fact of life is that there is no one fixed method that will solve everything. There is no one way to that will work for anyone’s life. To live a fulfilling life, you must not only work diligently, but also know how to take leisure time. To become a successful teacher, you must point your students in the right direction but then let explore on their own, you cannot control them. This is also Bruce Lee’s basis for Jeet Kune Do, his original martial arts style. Jeet Kune Do is the style of no style because different opponents require different approaches. Lee says this in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, “How can there be methods and systems to arrive at something that is living? To that which is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way, a definite path, but not to that which is living. Do not reduce reality to a static thing and then invent methods to reach it.” Life is change and adapting to change is what gives life. To solve our problems, we need to adapt to changing circumstances as a whole and right now we need to cooperate. Right now, our opponents are climate disasters, poverty, war, mental and physical health crises, food insecurity, racism and nescience, amongst other things. With so many people suffering do we really have time to compete. We talk about self-improvement as setting goals becoming stronger, but the goals somehow end up being the owner of a Lamborghini, instead of buying a bicycle, volunteering in your community, supporting a local business and donating to stabilize other broken parts of the world. Competition may have its uses, but we’re banging screws in with a hammer so to speak. We’re in a time where cooperation is vital in human existence and more so in the United States than other places. Next time you argue about which political party is the best or which social/economic system is better, remember that there is no right and wrong. The only right answer is which one is best right now.

“Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. It has no resting place, no form, no organized institution, no philosophy. When you see that, you will understand that this living this is also what you are. You cannot express and be alive through static, put-together form, through stylized movement.” -Bruce Lee