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Cooperation more than Noncooperation
Cooperation between human beings is a concept that many people do not like to fathom, especially when faced with a situation that requires personal gains. The main challenge of cooperation is the failure of people to see the expected gains from cooperation. The claim by social theorists that cooperation is more beneficial than non-cooperation is a true assertion. In agreement with this claim, it is possible to explain why the assertion is using the prisoners’ dilemma. As a perfect example of how people do not see the benefits of cooperation, the prisoners’ dilemma exposes the importance of cooperation by giving the prisoners the choices that have more benefits cooperating than non-cooperating.
The main reason why cooperation is more beneficial than non-cooperation is because it leads to better outcomes for every situation. Taking the case of the prisoners’ dilemma, the two prisoners are better off cooperating to remain silent than confessing. At the same time, if both confess, they are better off, but get a longer time (Kuhn, 2014). The same case applies to business where cooperation brings better results compared to other forms of economic relations such as competition. In the business world, cooperation assures the players in an industry the most feasible mutual benefits without necessarily hurting each other. This is the reason why some business models are anchored on cooperation to give rise to cartels other than non-cooperative competition.
Cooperation avoids the consequences that come along with noncooperation through a prior anticipation the outcomes. The prisoners will benefit more if they cooperate to remain silent than if they do not. Cooperation to remain silent to the prosecutor will give them an upper advantage as there will be no outright conviction, and may get lower sentences. On the other hand, non cooperation will hurt each one of them depending on the choices made by the other. No matter the decision of the other prisoner, noncooperation leads to a worse off situation for either of the prisoners. This reflects the way people in the society make choices without anticipating the consequence of noncooperation in comparison to the benefits of cooperation.
Cooperation is more beneficial than noncooperation because it eliminates the consequence of individualism. Cooperating gives people the benefits that come with mutual gains other than personal gains in both the business and the social setups. Individualism is the main challenge that blocks the benefits of cooperation as it presents the personal gains as the most important compared to common gains. The prisoners may tend to chose noncooperation because they seek the individual gain of confessing at the expense of the silence of the other. Therefore, each may confess, hoping that the other will not, so that they can be set free.
As claimed by the social theorists, cooperation presents more benefits than noncooperation. This is the basis through which a society is formed and agreements are established. Socrates used this concept to describe the importance of morals and social cohesion compared to disagreements. Cooperation allows people to avoid the consequences of noncooperation and the set environment for better results in business and society. Cooperation further eliminates the problem of individualism that seeks gains at the expense of the problems of others. In a prisoners’ dilemma, cooperating to remain silent gives them the chance to achieve a fair outcome after the interrogations. This makes cooperation the best option for the society as it presents more benefits.
References
Kuhn, S. (2014). Prisoner’s Dilemma. Retrieved From, <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma> June 16, 2015