SuperCooperators [Kindle Edition]

From Darwin's "The Origin of Species" to Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene" we learn about the ruthless nature of evolutionary pressure by natural selection. Yet observation of both the human and wider natural world demonstrates clearly that altruism is not just practised by well-meaning creatures but the very stuff which oils the machinery. Martin Nowak is a leading proponent of the importance of altruism - "being nice" - in naturual selection and has written a fine book explaining the game theory on which his research is based, the five strategies which emerge from it - direct reciprocity ("I'll help you if you help me"), indirect reciprocity ("if I help you, maybe someone that you know will help me"), spatial selection (where a group of cooperators - neighbours, say - help each other), group selection (where natural selection favours one group over another because it is acting as a group) and kin selection ("I help my relatives") and applications in nature and human society. Nowak's breakthrough in the field lies in modelling these strateigies mathematically - he first came to prominence through describing the infection pattern of HIV, providing an understanding of why it moved rapidly to full-blown AIDS in some people, yet lay apparently dormant for many years in others.

This would have led to a worthy (but difficult) book without Roger Highfield as co-author. Highfield, editor of New Scientist, is surely the finest exponent of the art of taking highly complex scientific subjects and rendering them both understandable and easy to read for the layman (compare his "Frontiers of Complexity" with Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind" and you will see). The result of this "Super Cooperation" is a highly readable, lucid work which adds considerably to the genreral understanding of this important aspect of evolutionary biology.

This is a fascinating read, although some of the human examples are less compelling than those from other species - there is no mention in the description of all the cooperation that goes to deliver a cup of coffee in a coffee bar that each cooperator is being paid for his efforts, which provides a considerable incentive, yet there is no reason why a vampire bat should regurgitate part of its bloody feed to allow an unsuccessful bat to gain some nutrition outside of the altrustic motives that Nowak describes. Much of the argument has an echo of Kantian logic and it would have been good to see this reflected in the discussion of human behaviour, but these are small gripes in an fascingating and important work.

One final reflection - as the book was being published, Nowak found himself embroiled in an argument over the importance of Inclusive fitness, a concept regarded by many as key to a modern understanding of evolutionary biology, but which Nowak considers irrelevant. Perhaps this goes to show that, for all the altruism which Nowak claims drives natural selection, competition always lies close by!

While this book does introduce the ideas that Nowak has been exploring throughout his academic life, it is light on detail. Whereas the selfish gene was dense with ideas and conclusions, this book spends more time talking about all the amazing scientists Nowak has worked with/inspired/been inspired by, along with nice descriptions about the Austrian alps.

It seems he was told to include lots of human anecdotes to keep his audience engaged, and to shy away from any maths/detailed explanation. What a shame, because the ideas are intriguing. (Oh, and I hate the references - stuffed together in the bibliography but with no 'reference' to them from within the chapter itself - after being frustrated by the paucity of detail about the subject, a nice link to more information would have been greatly appreciated)

All in all a good entrée, but certainly not the whole meal.

(BTW the reviewers who talk about 'selfishness not being to anybody's advantage' are plain wrong. The whole point of the Prisoner's Dilemma is that it pays to be selfish - the whole point of Nowak's research is to define under what circumstances cooperation can succeed in spite of this. Also, he regularly mentions the wave of selfishness/cooperation that ebbs and flows through his simulations - it is not static!)

I've read the book and believe this is a major contribution not just to evolutionary theory, your own social and work life, but also modern day politics. Novak and Highfield make a sobering and essential point towards the end; our ability to avoid species extinction - eg by global warming - relies on our ability to engender cooperation across the whole planet.

It's this essential challenge which the historical darwinian notion of 'survival of the fittest' is ill-equipped to solve. No one struggling to assist with political change can afford not to be aware of the book's central contentions. No one struggling with a difficult boss at work or exasperating relationship, will succeed unless they are using (even inadvertently) a strategy borrowed from some part of Novak's research.

There are very few novel concepts in biology that reach across to the social sciences, without falling into the trap of easy determinism. This account of game theory and strategy succeeds. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions, there are few better rigorous introductions to the notion of strategising across species, as well as human affairs.