tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post463114803581559549..comments2024-03-14T07:29:46.679-07:00Comments on Baha'i Coherence: Cooperation for SurvivalBryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06536028746119658713noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-19209049451273263342010-12-18T10:30:57.501-08:002010-12-18T10:30:57.501-08:00Interesting and well written. Recently a person c...Interesting and well written. Recently a person close to me went travel teaching the Faith. I was hoping to be invited but it never materialized which was strange. On their return, the individual's father boasted that the teacher's efforts had been noticed nationally, even by the Counsellor, that they were now known and loved throughout the whole country, that indeed every Bahai in the country know knew the teacher, and that they were gaining much publicity in the national newsletters, and were being sent by the Counsellor to more regions.<br /><br />I think your post somewhat clarified that the Bahai approach is more about empowering others and cooperating, rather than empowering only ourselves and making others feel less able or unneeded.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-5897347042774739672010-10-14T08:30:09.649-07:002010-10-14T08:30:09.649-07:00btw, the above story can be found in Guy Murchie&#...btw, the above story can be found in Guy Murchie's book "The Seven Mysteries of Life."maecarmelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17458018705740015151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-87239822333609428602010-10-14T08:28:29.980-07:002010-10-14T08:28:29.980-07:00The passage about the grasshoppers is amazing, par...The passage about the grasshoppers is amazing, particularly that they "vied with one another" to sacrifice their lives. Reminds me of an observed encounter between a large snake and two mice in the wild. The snake snapped up one of the mice, but the other mouse jumped into its mouth and held it open, allowing both of the mice to escape.maecarmelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17458018705740015151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-9474408230441818982010-10-11T19:30:27.453-07:002010-10-11T19:30:27.453-07:00I very much enjoy your posts. They are quite insi...I very much enjoy your posts. They are quite insightful and get me into a meditative mode. Thank you for inspiring my mind, heart, and soul.Maevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06477655680696090366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-64222342165595639022010-10-11T17:23:15.387-07:002010-10-11T17:23:15.387-07:00Good point Jason. I didn't mean to say that th...Good point Jason. I didn't mean to say that there is no competition, since there obviously is and it adds efficiency. I also believe free market capitalism has a place in society, and there are references to Abdu'l-Baha saying that we must reward certain people over others based on how much service is provided.Bryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06536028746119658713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1009010011589823837.post-56188782450764912912010-10-11T16:52:41.546-07:002010-10-11T16:52:41.546-07:00Bryan,
I agree with the overriding theme of your...Bryan, <br /><br />I agree with the overriding theme of your post, but I think you overstate the claim that nature is fundamentally cooperative. I don't think we can or should characterize "nature" in those terms. We can study how elements of nature compete or cooperate, but to ascribe the whole thing a single meta-organizing concept such as that I think is over-simplifying it.<br /><br />On a somewhat related note, I am reading an interesting book right now by Elinor Ostrom, noble prize winner of economics last year, called "understanding institutional diversity" in which she develops the "Institutional Analysis and Development" (IAD) framework. It acknowledges the historical and practical role that rational choice theory (aka the idea that humans are rational egoists with perfect information with the sole concern of profit maximization) can play, but it puts it in its (limited) place. She explains that while this model of human behavior can predict some social and economic phenomenon, for example the establishment of equilibrium prices in some competitive market settings, it utterly fails in many others settings. For example in the analysis of joint-pool resource management, a collection of "rational egoists" would soon deplete the resource and everybody would lose out. Only when there is a pattern of cooperation and trust can every individual, and the group as a whole, benefit the most. The last 20 years has seen a wealth of experimental results that minimize, but do not replace, the rational choice framework. I don't know if this framework is synonymous with the idea of competition, but to say that it plays no role anywhere seems kind of extreme.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17162527239228375591noreply@blogger.com