Survival of the Nicest

Good material, even great material at times, but hard to follow. I think Klein tried to pack in too much: evolutionary psychology, behavioral economics, game theory, neuroscience, even Open Source. All of them are subjects I’m reasonably well read in, but even so I found it rough going. Which really bums me out because I did learn a few good things: research I was unfamiliar with, and new questions to ponder.

I completely agree with his conclusion: the only way humanity will survive is by learning to cooperate on a global scale. The trick, of course, is how. What I found most interesting is Klein’s treatment of punishment as an altruistic behavior: cooperation cannot survive in a society where trust and institutions are undermined. What if we could identify the people causing this harm? What if they were made to pay for their actions? This question may change my future voting strategy.

Not sure I can recommend this, or to whom. For most people, my go-to recommendation on these topics is Hrdy’s [Mothers and Others](https://hardcover.app/books/mothers-and-others): fascinating, and beautifully written. Fukuyama’s [book:Trust|57980] is still my second choice, although I fear it has not aged well.