BEYOND OPPORTUNISM
Kin selection and reciprocal altruism are not the only factors involved
in human cooperative behavior. People behave in altruistic ways in
many circumstances where no common genes are involved and no
reciprocation is expected. They refrain from extracting all the possi-
ble benefits from many situations. It would be trivially easy to steal
from friends, mug old ladies or leave restaurants without tipping.
Also, this restraint does not stem from rational calculation—for
instance, from the fear of possible sanctions—for it persists when
[184] there is clearly no chance of getting caught; people just say that they
would feel awful if they did such things. Powerful emotionsand moral
feelingsseem to be driving behavior in a way that does not maximize
individuals' benefits.
These facts are certainly puzzling, but their combination may sug-
gest an evolutionary explanation. To date, the best account of these
human propensities has come from economists who found everyday
behaviors such as tipping in restaurants one will never again patronize,
refraining from undetectable cheating, and so on rather difficult to
explain in their standard models. Economist Robert Frank proposed
that such behavior may reveal important aspects of human disposi-
tions for cooperation. Humans depend on cooperation, and this
dependency creates problems of trust and commitment. In many situ-
ations you just cannot be sure that others will cooperate rather than
defect or cheat. Maybe the baby-sitter is a thief; maybe your business
partner is a crook. You have to rely on some cues that indicate some
degree of reliability. Because we depend so much on cooperation, the
problem is equally acute from the other side of a prospective
exchange. If you are seeking work as a baby-sitter, you need some
means to convey your honesty to prospective employers, and the same
applies if you want to set up some fair and mutually beneficial business
partnership. In general, to be disposed toward cooperation is of no
great advantage unless you can demonstrate that you are so disposed.
These problems have been with us for hundreds of thousands of years.
Here I am using examples from modern conditions; but collective for-
aging or hunting expeditions posed the same problems. You sincerely
intend to bring back to the camp all the berries you gather and share
your pickings with others; but this disposition must be obvious to oth-
ers in order for cooperation to begin at all.
RELIGION EXPLAINED