Synergy
Edge 2007: What Are You Optimistic About?
As an activity, as a state of mind, science is fundamentally optimistic. Science figures out how things work and thus can make them work better. Much of the news is either good news or news that can be made good, thanks to ever deepening knowledge and ever more efficient and powerful tools and techniques. Science, on its frontiers, poses more and ever better questions, ever better put. What are you optimistic about? Why? Surprise us!
— THE EDGE ANNUAL QUESTION, 2007
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I’m optimistic about synergy, and the fact that it appears to be a fundamental aspect of human nature.
In the world today, we usually label our interactions in one of two ways: altruistic or selfish, seen as polar opposites. For example, Richard Dawkins writes that “an entity, such as a baboon, is said to be altruistic if it behaves in such a way as to increase another entity’s welfare at the expense of its own. Selfish behavior has exactly the opposite effect.”
Synergy is a term—proposed by Ruth Benedict and developed by Abraham Maslow—used to describe societies and institutions that are set up so as to transcend this polarity between selfishness and unselfishness, between self-interest and altruism.
In cases of high synergy, two people have arranged their relationship in such a fashion that one person’s advantage causes the other person’s advantage, rather than one person’s advantage causing the other’s disadvantage.
To put this another way, nineteenth century orator Robert Green Ingersoll wrote that “the lowest form of selfishness is when one is willing to be happy, or wishes to be happy, at the expense or the misery of another. The highest form of selfishness is when a man becomes so noble that he finds his happiness in making others so.”
Note that in comparing “highest” to “lowest” here, Ingersoll was not making a moral judgment, but rather observing that the highest form of selfishness is actually much more fulfilling than the lowest. Summarizing this succinctly, he wrote simply that “the way to be happy is to make others so.”
The Dalai Lama has recently revived Ingersoll’s insight, speaking of wise selfishness and foolish selfishness: “Being foolish selfish means pursuing our own interests in a narrow, shortsighted way. Being wise selfish means taking a broader view and recognizing that our own long-term individual interest lies in the welfare of everyone.” In other words, he writes, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
Psychologists have recently confirmed this wisdom, finding that an other-regarding approach, in which our primary aim is to improve the lives of others, is in fact a superior path to personal happiness compared to direct attempts to make ourselves happy.
For example, studies have found that spending money on others is significantly more satisfying than spending money on ourselves. This fact has been observed in countries as diverse as the United States and Uganda, and throughout the lifespan: even two-year olds, notorious for having trouble sharing, are happier giving away one of their Teddy Grahams than they are to receive several Teddy Grahams in the first place.
And in a wide array of studies in a variety of different contexts, psychologists have consistently observed that, in general, acting kindly for the benefit of others is a reliable way to feel better ourselves.
Neuroscientists have recently shed light on the mechanisms behind this, finding that giving benefits to others activates the same reward circuits in our brain as receiving those same benefits ourselves. In addition, they have found that if we choose not to give when we have the opportunity, we feel bad about it and physically stress out, as our cortisol levels rise significantly.
The giving approach also paves the way for a happier, healthier life in the long term. Teenagers who are more “generative” in high school, demonstrating great givingness, prosocial competence, and social perspective, are found to be psychologically happier and physically healthier than less generative peers, when contacted again fifty years later.
At the other end of the lifespan, older adults who are more giving, volunteering for one or more social benefit organizations, actually live significantly longer than their peers who do not volunteer.
Interestingly, scientists have also discovered that giving material and emotional support to one’s spouse, relatives, friends, and neighbors has a much larger health benefit than receiving such support, demonstrating that it really is “more blessed to give than to receive.”
Even just observing the act of giving has measurable personal and social benefits. When we witness acts of kindness, we feel an emotion called elevation. We feel moved, uplifted, optimistic about humanity, and often report a physical sensation of heart-warming.
Having experienced elevation, we feel inspired to emulate the acts of kindness that we have witnessed, to be a better person, and to do good for others. In witnessing the best that humanity can offer, we are inspired to offer the best that we can too.
In practice, feeling elevation actually does make us significantly more likely to give to others, both in the moment, and months down the road. It can even lead us to act charitably towards groups we might previously have felt uncharitable toward.
While our interactions today are often painted as zero-sum games—and indeed, zero-sum games do exist in this world—it is heartening to see that they aren’t the only option. Synergistic, positive-sum games exist too, and where we recognize their potential, win-wins are possible. This gives me hope that by working together as a species, we will be able to face and overcome the many challenges we face today.
For other responses to this question, visit: The Edge Annual Question 2007
Some of my favorite responses from 2007 include:
* Sam Harris, “We Are Making Moral Progress”
* Clay Shirky, “Reliance on Evidence”
* Gary Marcus, “Metacognition for Kids”
* Robert Sapolsky, “Us/Them Dichotomies Will Become Far More Benign”
* Alison Gopnik, “New Children Will Be Born”Parts of this response were excerpted from Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living by Richard Powers and Nick Enge.
