Are humans cooperative or competitive in the state of nature? Philosophical and empirical angles.

Imagine a lone human on the prehistoric savanna. Without claws, sharp teeth, or thick fur, a solitary human is little more than a slow-moving snack for a predator. If humans were naturally competitive loners, our species would have vanished millennia ago. Instead, we are the world's most dominant species not because we are the strongest, but because we are the best at working together. ### The Biological Mandate for Mercy In the traditional "State of Nature"—a philosophical term used by thinkers like [Thomas Hobbes](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/) to describe life before organized government—it is often assumed that life was a "war of all against all." However, modern archaeology suggests otherwise. Anthropologist [Margaret Mead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead) famously argued that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was not a tool or a weapon, but a **healed femur** (thigh bone). In the animal kingdom, a broken leg is a death sentence; you cannot hunt, flee, or reach water. A healed femur means that someone else stayed with the injured person, bound the wound, carried them to safety, and fed them until they recovered. This deep-seated **altruism**—the selfless concern for others—is our true natural state. ### The Real "Lord of the Flies" We often use the novel *Lord of the Flies* as a template for how children would behave if left alone: they would turn into savages. But history provides a real-world counter-example. In 1965, six boys from Tonga were shipwrecked on a deserted island for 15 months. As documented by historian [Rutger Bregman](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months) in his book *Humankind: A Hopeful History*, the boys did not descend into chaos. Instead, they created a strict system of cooperation, tending a permanent fire, creating a gymnasium, and even managing a broken leg by using sticks as a splint. They survived because their instinct was to organize and care, not to compete and kill. ### The Evolutionary Advantage of Sociality Developmental psychologists like [Michael Tomasello](https://www.eva.mpg.de/psychology/staff/tomasello/) have shown that even toddlers demonstrate "shared intentionality." Before they are even taught rules, children instinctively want to help others solve problems. This points to a biological "hard-wiring" for cooperation. Primatologist [Frans de Waal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_de_Waal), who spent decades studying our closest relatives, argued that morality is not a thin veneer covering a selfish core, but an evolved trait essential for group survival. > "To view set-up competition as the only way to progress is to ignore the primary engine of our evolution: the social group. We are not a 'self-made' species; we are a 'group-made' species." — **Frans de Waal**, *Our Inner Ape* ### A New Perspective on the "State of Nature" Rather than seeing the State of Nature as a battlefield, we should view it as a nursery. Our survival depended on **hyper-sociality**—the ability to understand what others feel and need. When we cooperate, our brains release oxytocin, often called the "bonding hormone," reinforcing the idea that we are biologically rewarded for being kind. Competition may exist, but it is the exception; cooperation is the rule that allowed humanity to build the world we see today.