Survival Games

Each species on our planet has its own unique survival techniques. A number of science research projects have proved that these techniques are often inborn. Some of them are learned behavior that the growing organism picks up but more often than not, survival is embedded in its genes.

Take for instance the cooperation of the of the Meerkats of Africa. These distant cousins of the raccoon are no more than 30 cm tall. They live in groups in underground tunnels. However they show major traits of cooperation. When the group comes out of the tunnels to forage for food one member stands on sentry duty. While the others eat this sentry keeps an eye out for danger in the area.

The sentry is usually on higher ground such as a rock or a tree top. It may seem that the Meerkat on sentry duty is more vulnerable than the rest of its group close to the ground, but his warning cry help save more members of the group. At the same time the sentry is amongst the first to jump to safety after giving the warning cry. So its behavior of cooperation is not always totally altruistic.

In a similar manner human groups also enlist cooperation for survival. It may not be as clearly evident in our lives today as it was in the lives of the cave men ages ago, but the trait has ensured our survival. Maybe an interesting science project would be to list the ways human society still cooperates, but uses money to make it more of a transaction rather than a helpful action.