The social evolution of human cooperation via group competition and conflict

<h1>The social evolution of human cooperation via group competition and conflict</h1>

<br><a href="..">Brendan O'Connor</a>
<br>Honors Thesis, Symbolic Systems
<br>Readers: Noah Mark and James Fearon
<br>March 2006

<h2>Abstract</h2>
Why do humans cooperate within large non-kin societies?  A simple answer is that the 
ancestors of humans genetically evolved cooperative tendencies through millions of years 
of living in small groups where small-scale cooperation would be advantageous for 
survival.  However, of the 50,000 year history of modern humans, only the last 10,000 
have seen explosive growth in the size of human societies, from societies of several 
dozen members to societies of millions.  I seek to explain the evolution of large-scale 
human cooperation as this increase in social order.  I examine two previously 
underemphasized mechanisms to support cooperation: (1) institutional variance, and (2) 
war between societies.  These two phenomena have been prevalent through the last 
10,000 years of human history, and are unique to humans.  In contrast to earlier work 
predominantly concerned with reciprocation and kin selection to support the evolution of 
cooperation, I develop evolutionary and rational choice models in which between-group 
competition and conflict help support within-group cooperation. 

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