The Foundations of Cooperation

Little consciousness is directed toward the myriad of avenues where we cooperate with each other and everyone benefits. From borrowing tools to mutual transactions to cooking for the family, we cannot live without the efforts of nations of people. At the core of all these social interactions are a set of structures which guide the process. Across the board of self-organizing open-source ventures, we see these common structures being adapted to smooth the cooperation within the community.

1. Communication – Discuss common ideas, concerns, goals, rules, norms, etc. Results in greater empathy, trust, and better solutions.

2. Proper Frame and Authenticity – We adjust our behavior according to the environment or structure (Wall Street/Community Game).

3. Sense of community, empathy, and solidarity – Increased by communication and feeling of know of other. Nurtures self-sacrifice in favor of the group or whole. Dynamic with out-of-group discrimination.

4. Moral systems of fairness, morality, norms – Essential to maintaining steady cooperation. We must be rewarded intrinsically or extrinsically in some manner without crowding-out others. Fairness is just as powerful as incentives; it is a root precondition of intrinsic drive and collaboration. Clearly defined values and what the normal right thing to do strongly shapes behavior. Must be transparent and demonstrative of what the norms are.

5. Rewards and punishments – Have to align proper material incentives with those intrinsically or socially driven. Rewarding positive behavior has much more lasting cooperative effects than punishments.

6. Reputation, transparency, reciprocity – We cooperate because it makes us feel good, it is the right thing to do, or we are getting value out of the system. “Pay-it-forward’ schemes can only last long if the current benefactor is in public scrutiny, giving his choice social implications. Reputation builds trust and rewards those following the cooperative’s norms and best practices. It eases the uncertainty of dealing with distant people and a non-immediate result.

7. Diversify for all the bases – Everyone has their own set of personal motivators. Cooperative systems must take into consideration all of these without crowding out some group. Must minimize the cost to cooperate while making cooperating a feel-good choice. Make easy a diverse set of contributions, big or small, in many different fields. Main contributors feel generous, valued, part of meaningful group, expert status, etc. Small contributors give small amounts of time, effort, insight, money.


I am indebted to Yochai Benkler for The Penguin and Leviathan which details the diverse nature of what drives and motivates us. He frames the discussion through the lens of economics, behavior research, psychology, biology, and explores cutting edge examples of organizations explore and creating the blossoming cooperative spaces.