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Altruisti nati: Perché cooperiamo fin da piccoli
Siamo angeli di generosità o diavoli di egoismo? Come guardiamo al nostro prossimo? E cosa ci distingue dagli altri animali? Sono domande antiche, interrogativi che rappresentano una sfida difficile per noi tutti. In questo libro, lo psicologo Michael Tomasello cerca nuove risposte, affrontando un tema a prima vista molto complesso a partire da un'osservazione semplice e quotidiana: qualsiasi bambino è naturalmente socievole e disposto all'aiuto, ben prima che i genitori gli insegnino a riconoscere quello spazio definito e omogeneo che siamo abituati a chiamare "buona educazione". Per capire se questo carattere è davvero innato, Tomasello ha deciso di studiare con esperimenti di laboratorio il comportamento dei bambini tra il primo e il secondo anno di vita. I risultati sono stati sorprendenti. Sì, perché i piccoli di uomo sembrano davvero unici nella loro tendenza, fin dalle primissime fasi dell'esistenza, ad aiutare il prossimo, mettendo da parte il vantaggio individuale. Con prodigiosa chiarezza, Tomasello non solo ci spiega i meccanismi psicologici che guidano le prime manifestazioni di collaborazione, ma ci fa anche capire meglio le straordinarie forme di organizzazione e di civiltà che caratterizzano l'esistenza dell'uomo. Il mondo in cui viviamo, le norme culturali, le leggi, le istituzioni: niente di tutto questo esisterebbe senza tolleranza e fiducia, che sono probabilmente l'unico vero grande vantaggio evolutivo della specie umana.
143 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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1024 people want to read
About the author
Michael Tomasello
43 books160 followersMichael Tomasello is an American developmental and comparative psychologist. He is a co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 10, 2013
Tomasello has come to my attention from two sub areas of interest. The first was Axel Honneth's poorly developed book on reification. According to Honneth, Tomasello has empirically demonstrated that infants have an ontogenetic faculty of deep empathy and recognition of fellow human beings. But most of us know that adults don't have much empathy for other people, and have a hard time 'recognizing' the other (think the entire Republican party). For Honneth this is the new starting point to develop a theory of reification.
I also watch a lot of NOVA specials, and frequently the Max Planck institute for social research is featured with some amazing experiment regarding chimpanzees and/or toddlers. This is the institute that Tomasello works for.
Having been piqued by his research I picked up Why We Cooperate which, in only 100 pages, sets out to develop an interesting thesis. He begins with the question: was Hobbes or Rousseau right? Are we born nasty, and brutish, and hardly concerned with others, or are we born angelic and since fallen from grace due to the evolution of civilization? Tomasello is not as radical as Rousseau, he won't damn all of civilization, but he's convinced that we are born mostly altruistic, cooperative, and empathetic (i.e., he sides with Rousseau). He highlights about a dozen studies that reveal just how compassionate and innately concerned children are. He doesn't speculate much on why humans lose their ability to be altruistic, but he does show nearly conclusively that altruism is innate, and not learned. If anything is learned over time, it's how NOT to be altruistic. Society deprives us of our angelic nature. There is one study that really highlights this. If very young children see someone carrying a stack of books and bumping into a door, they know to walk over and open the door for the person (you can youtube these studies). It doesn't matter if the child is alone in the room, or if the parent is there prodding them along, the child always opens the door (meaning this isn't parent directed altruism). But, if the child is given a reward for opening the door, they are less likely to open it a second time, and a third time, and so on. The more rewards they get for doing a good deed, the less inclined they are to do the deed again. The speculation is that the act has initial intrinsic value, but once the intrinsic value is substituted for some material value, the act loses its worth. This is exactly the OPPOSITE view of man that most people, especially economist and politicians, hold. They all believe people need material and monetary motivation to keep doing good things. What is actually happening is that people are constantly being 'rewarded' for acts they would have done anyway, and are now losing the inclination to do them for the right reasons. If you reflect on this point for all of ten seconds, it quickly becomes apparent just how rotten capitalism is.
In order to quell doubts that Tomasello isn't painting a romantic picture of human-beings, he conducts the exact same studies on chimpanzees. Although they're not completely unconcerned, their ability to share, and conduct altruistic acts, is far less prominent than humans. This leads him to believe that there is some evolutionary advantage to our innate altruism. Although, I don’t think the chimpanzee studies much matter one way or the other regarding human altruism (and some of Tomsello’s critics contend this point frequently, i.e., these ape studies are superfluous and not as informative as he thinks).
Toward the end of the book things become too speculative for my taste. Evolutionary Psychology often seems like a complete pseudo-science once it starts abstracting back before civilization. Comparing humans to chimpanzees, Tomasselo tries to give an evolutionary account for our unique set of altruistic traits. None of these speculations are wholly empirical, and always abstractly hypothetical. I don't think it much matters why we evolved these traits; the real important question is why are we no longer exercising them, and what's the cause?
I also watch a lot of NOVA specials, and frequently the Max Planck institute for social research is featured with some amazing experiment regarding chimpanzees and/or toddlers. This is the institute that Tomasello works for.
Having been piqued by his research I picked up Why We Cooperate which, in only 100 pages, sets out to develop an interesting thesis. He begins with the question: was Hobbes or Rousseau right? Are we born nasty, and brutish, and hardly concerned with others, or are we born angelic and since fallen from grace due to the evolution of civilization? Tomasello is not as radical as Rousseau, he won't damn all of civilization, but he's convinced that we are born mostly altruistic, cooperative, and empathetic (i.e., he sides with Rousseau). He highlights about a dozen studies that reveal just how compassionate and innately concerned children are. He doesn't speculate much on why humans lose their ability to be altruistic, but he does show nearly conclusively that altruism is innate, and not learned. If anything is learned over time, it's how NOT to be altruistic. Society deprives us of our angelic nature. There is one study that really highlights this. If very young children see someone carrying a stack of books and bumping into a door, they know to walk over and open the door for the person (you can youtube these studies). It doesn't matter if the child is alone in the room, or if the parent is there prodding them along, the child always opens the door (meaning this isn't parent directed altruism). But, if the child is given a reward for opening the door, they are less likely to open it a second time, and a third time, and so on. The more rewards they get for doing a good deed, the less inclined they are to do the deed again. The speculation is that the act has initial intrinsic value, but once the intrinsic value is substituted for some material value, the act loses its worth. This is exactly the OPPOSITE view of man that most people, especially economist and politicians, hold. They all believe people need material and monetary motivation to keep doing good things. What is actually happening is that people are constantly being 'rewarded' for acts they would have done anyway, and are now losing the inclination to do them for the right reasons. If you reflect on this point for all of ten seconds, it quickly becomes apparent just how rotten capitalism is.
In order to quell doubts that Tomasello isn't painting a romantic picture of human-beings, he conducts the exact same studies on chimpanzees. Although they're not completely unconcerned, their ability to share, and conduct altruistic acts, is far less prominent than humans. This leads him to believe that there is some evolutionary advantage to our innate altruism. Although, I don’t think the chimpanzee studies much matter one way or the other regarding human altruism (and some of Tomsello’s critics contend this point frequently, i.e., these ape studies are superfluous and not as informative as he thinks).
Toward the end of the book things become too speculative for my taste. Evolutionary Psychology often seems like a complete pseudo-science once it starts abstracting back before civilization. Comparing humans to chimpanzees, Tomasselo tries to give an evolutionary account for our unique set of altruistic traits. None of these speculations are wholly empirical, and always abstractly hypothetical. I don't think it much matters why we evolved these traits; the real important question is why are we no longer exercising them, and what's the cause?
July 22, 2021
Este es un librillo muy interesante que se acerca a la cuestión de qué nos hace humanos desde la óptica de nuestras conductas sociales. Su principal tesis es que la característica específica de la forma en que los seres humanos realizamos actividades colaborativas es el modo en que establecemos objetivos compartidos en los que cada uno participamos con un rol individual, coordinándonos con una atención compartida a la vez que partimos desde nuestras perspectivas individuales y únicas. Esta posición es defendida a partir de experimentos comparativos realizados por Tomasello y sus colaboradores, en los que se pone en situaciones similares a bebés o niños pequeños humanos y chimpancés para identificar qué compartimos con los primates más cercanos a nosotros y qué habilidades nos son propias. Con este proyecto en mente, Why We Cooperate abarca temas que van desde la evolución humana, el origen de la sociedad y de la moral, la psicología infantil y la pedagogía. Yo lo he encontrado verdaderamente hermoso.
El estilo expositivo de Tomasello es muy claro, tanto por el modo en que estructura los contenidos y su argumentación, como por la sencillez de la expresión, de tal modo que el libro es perfectamente accesible y de carácter divulgativo, sin -creo- por ello sacrificar el rigor o la relevancia de lo que pretende transmitir. Además, su escritura es concisa, no redunda en lo que no es necesario redundar ni pretende ser altisonante, por lo que la lectura es ágil.
Otra característica que he apreciado mucho de este libro es que en él no sólo habla Tomasello. Una segunda sección del libro, que corresponde a la segunda mitad, se llama 'Forum', y en ella cuatro autores que trabajan en un ámbito similar discuten las conclusiones de Tomasello, bien para destacar las partes en las que están de acuerdo y a las que han llegado también desde sus propios trabajos, bien para matizar o incluso rebatir algunas de ellas, lo que enriquece y diversifica la interpretación de los resultados presentados por Tomasello.
En suma, recomendaría este libro a todas las personas interesadas ya no sólo en la evolución del ser humano o en su psicología, sino también en la política y en la sociedad. Los temas que aborda este libro, aunque no de forma conclusiva, son en realidad fundamentales para entender al ser humano y sus características más esenciales, y yo creo que esa es la piedra angular para cualquier discusión que involucre lo humano aunque sea en sus versiones más complejas (como lo que tiene que ver con la sociedad en sentido amplio).
El estilo expositivo de Tomasello es muy claro, tanto por el modo en que estructura los contenidos y su argumentación, como por la sencillez de la expresión, de tal modo que el libro es perfectamente accesible y de carácter divulgativo, sin -creo- por ello sacrificar el rigor o la relevancia de lo que pretende transmitir. Además, su escritura es concisa, no redunda en lo que no es necesario redundar ni pretende ser altisonante, por lo que la lectura es ágil.
Otra característica que he apreciado mucho de este libro es que en él no sólo habla Tomasello. Una segunda sección del libro, que corresponde a la segunda mitad, se llama 'Forum', y en ella cuatro autores que trabajan en un ámbito similar discuten las conclusiones de Tomasello, bien para destacar las partes en las que están de acuerdo y a las que han llegado también desde sus propios trabajos, bien para matizar o incluso rebatir algunas de ellas, lo que enriquece y diversifica la interpretación de los resultados presentados por Tomasello.
En suma, recomendaría este libro a todas las personas interesadas ya no sólo en la evolución del ser humano o en su psicología, sino también en la política y en la sociedad. Los temas que aborda este libro, aunque no de forma conclusiva, son en realidad fundamentales para entender al ser humano y sus características más esenciales, y yo creo que esa es la piedra angular para cualquier discusión que involucre lo humano aunque sea en sus versiones más complejas (como lo que tiene que ver con la sociedad en sentido amplio).
October 6, 2020
[TR in below] Firstly, thank to my lovely friend Dilara for her gift the book, lucky to have! A research book in the field of evolutionary psychology on why people cooperate. Tomasello is one of the leading names in this field. Although the book contained many terminological words, the language was not as though as I expected. The first thing I was surprised about this book was that I was expecting a content like why two people cooperate, or negotiate -I think I thought like that bcuz of my own field- but it was not like that at all :) I think this is because I have no idea about evolutionary psychology. He divides cooperation into two separate areas as altruism and partnership (I’m not sure I choose the right word bcuz I read in Turkish) He finds an answer to the question of why we are partnering in three concepts: information, service and goods. While detailing these topics and concepts with experiments, he uses very certain expressions. I always think that we should be worried about the accuracy of these experiments because they’re doing it with babies, chimpanzee and monkeys. There is always doubt about the results of experiments in any field we can talk about. Also, I have to say that his almost all experiments was satisfactory, but some of them wasn’t like he did one with just 3 babies. It is reduced my interest in the book. Finally, he also explains his overwhelming language at the beginning of the book. It makes the book more readable and he gives us so important information and helps us create a picture, but I think if I had read the topic a little before, I would have more room in mind.
evrimsel psikoloji alanında, insanların neden ortaklık kurduğuna dair bir araştırma kitabı. Tomasello bu alanın önde gelenlerinden. kitap çok terimsel ifadeler içermesine rağmen dili beklediğim kadar zorlayıcı değildi. ilk şaşırdığım nokta ise şuydu, ben -ki sanırım bu kendi alanım olmasından ötürü- daha iki insanın işbirliği yapması, müzakere yapması gibi bir içerik bekliyordum fakat hiç böyle değildi :) bu da benim evrimsel psikolojiye dair hiç fikrimin olmaması kaynaklı bence. ortaklığı, özgecilik ve işbirliği olarak iki ayrı alana ayırıyor ve neden ortaklık yaptığımız sorusuna üç konseptte yanıt buluyor: bilgilendirme, hizmet ve mal. bu konu ve konseptleri detaylıca işleyip deneylerle anlatmasıyla beraber çok net ifadeler kullanıyor. bu deneylerin doğruluğu hakkında hep endişeli olmak gerekir diye düşünüyorum zira deneyleri bebeklerle, şempanzelerle ya da maymunlarla yapıyorlar. bu deneylerin doğruluğu hakkında hep şüphe var herhangi bir alanda. çoğu araştırması tatmin etmekle beraber bazı araştırmalarını yalnızca 3 bebekle yapmış. bunlar da kitaba olan ilgimi bir tık azalttı diyebilirim. Üstenci ve net dilini de kitabın başında açıklıyor. Okunabilir ve önemli de insightlar veriyor fakat konuya dair önceden okumalarım olsaydı, aklımda daha çok yer edinirdi diye düşünüyorum.
evrimsel psikoloji alanında, insanların neden ortaklık kurduğuna dair bir araştırma kitabı. Tomasello bu alanın önde gelenlerinden. kitap çok terimsel ifadeler içermesine rağmen dili beklediğim kadar zorlayıcı değildi. ilk şaşırdığım nokta ise şuydu, ben -ki sanırım bu kendi alanım olmasından ötürü- daha iki insanın işbirliği yapması, müzakere yapması gibi bir içerik bekliyordum fakat hiç böyle değildi :) bu da benim evrimsel psikolojiye dair hiç fikrimin olmaması kaynaklı bence. ortaklığı, özgecilik ve işbirliği olarak iki ayrı alana ayırıyor ve neden ortaklık yaptığımız sorusuna üç konseptte yanıt buluyor: bilgilendirme, hizmet ve mal. bu konu ve konseptleri detaylıca işleyip deneylerle anlatmasıyla beraber çok net ifadeler kullanıyor. bu deneylerin doğruluğu hakkında hep endişeli olmak gerekir diye düşünüyorum zira deneyleri bebeklerle, şempanzelerle ya da maymunlarla yapıyorlar. bu deneylerin doğruluğu hakkında hep şüphe var herhangi bir alanda. çoğu araştırması tatmin etmekle beraber bazı araştırmalarını yalnızca 3 bebekle yapmış. bunlar da kitaba olan ilgimi bir tık azalttı diyebilirim. Üstenci ve net dilini de kitabın başında açıklıyor. Okunabilir ve önemli de insightlar veriyor fakat konuya dair önceden okumalarım olsaydı, aklımda daha çok yer edinirdi diye düşünüyorum.
April 2, 2010
Tomasello has written a short, sweet technical introduction to his theory of cooperation, which is a pretty hot topic in cognitive circles these days. The book was adapted from a series of lectures (Stanford's 2008 Tanner Lectures), so it isn't as heavily footnoted or quite as academic in tone as an academic journal article, but it doesn't spend quite as much time on background and basics as a typical pop-cog book. Still, it does cover a lot of territory in its short length (only 172 pages, with pretty big margins).
Tomasello explores cooperation with several different comparisons. He is most famous for comparing infants and toddlers to young chimpanzees, but that is just one aspect — he also explores cross cultural differences, for example. Children and chimps, however, are a very intriguing place to start, which is why the New York Times leaned heavily on his work in the December 2009 article We May Be Born With an Urge to Help (well worth reading).
He focuses on two basic phenomena (p. xvii):
(1) Altruism: one individual sacrificing in some way for another; and
(2) Collaboration: multiple individuals working together for mutual benefit.
Tomasello explores cooperation with several different comparisons. He is most famous for comparing infants and toddlers to young chimpanzees, but that is just one aspect — he also explores cross cultural differences, for example. Children and chimps, however, are a very intriguing place to start, which is why the New York Times leaned heavily on his work in the December 2009 article We May Be Born With an Urge to Help (well worth reading).
He focuses on two basic phenomena (p. xvii):
(1) Altruism: one individual sacrificing in some way for another; and
(2) Collaboration: multiple individuals working together for mutual benefit.
August 10, 2017
An interesting addendum to the notion of "shared intentionality" and the emergence of culture is the following paper (chapter) by evolutionary biologist Randolph Nesse:
Nesse RM. Social selection and the origins of culture. In: Schaller M, Heine SJ, Norenzayan A, Yamagishi T, Kameda T, editors. Evolution, culture, and the human mind. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press. p. 137-50, 2010.
Nesse RM. Social selection and the origins of culture. In: Schaller M, Heine SJ, Norenzayan A, Yamagishi T, Kameda T, editors. Evolution, culture, and the human mind. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press. p. 137-50, 2010.
July 19, 2018
Quick read but will make you realize how much of human nature we think we know and take for granted when we are much stranger creatures than we ever consider. Especially pushes back on jaded and cynical views of human nature when one considers we are by far the most cooperative animal we know of so far.
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June 23, 2021Das Buch „Warum wir kooperieren“ von Michael Tomasello wurde 2010 vom Surkamp Verlag in Berlin herausgebracht. Ursprünglich wurde dieses Buch 2009 jedoch durch den MIT Verlag mit dem Titel „Why we cooperate“ veröffentlicht. Henriette Zeidler hat das Buch aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Diese Rezension nimmt Bezug auf die dritte Auflage von 2016.
Michael Tomasello ist 1950 in Florida den USA geboren worden. Seit 1998 ist er Kodirektor für evolutionäre Anthropologie des Max-Planck-Instituts in Leipzig. Neben diesem Buch sind weitere relevante Publikationen „Die kulturelle Entwicklung des menschlichen Denkens“ und „Die Ursprünge der menschlichen Kommunikation“. Zudem wurden ihm wichtige Auszeichnungen verliehen, wie zum Beispiel der Max-Planck-Forschungspreis der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. (vgl. Tomasello, 2010, Klappentext)
Das Buch ist im Kontext seiner Forschung zu dem Vergleich von Verhalten bei Säuglingen, Kindern und Schimpansen entstanden. Die Studien und Ergebnisse füllen den Großteil dieses Buches, was in zwei Teile unterteilt ist. Im ersten Teil kommt Tomasello zu Wort und im zweiten Teil kommentieren die Forscherkollegen Joan B. Silk, Carol S. Dweck, Brian Skyrms und Elizabeth S. Spelle Tomasellos Ausführung zur menschlichen Kooperation.
Tomasello versucht in seinem Buch menschliche Kooperation und Kultur zu erklären. Durch seine Forschungen erhofft er sich, die Ursprünge der menschlichen Kooperation, die phylogenetischen wie auch die ontogenetischen, zu entdecken. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf zwei grundlegenden Phänomenen. Im ersten Teil seines Buches geht er auf den Altruismus in Form von Helfen, Informieren und Teilen ein. Das kooperative Arbeiten der Menschen trägt zu einem Mechanismus bei, den er den „kulturellen Wagenhebereffekt“ genannt hat (ebd., S. 10). Der Mechanismus beschreibt, dass der Mensch Neues erfindet, immer weiter verbessert und die neuen Versionen übernimmt. Im zweiten Teil setzt er sich mit dem Thema der Kooperation in Gruppen, sowie soziale Normen und Institutionen auseinander. Tomasello spricht davon, dass „die beeindruckendsten kognitiven Leistungen der Menschen […] nicht Produkte allein handelnder, sondern gemeinsam agierender Individuen“ sind (ebd., S. 13).
Dem zugrunde liegen psychologische Prozesse der „geteilten Intentionalität“ und der Kooperations- und Hilfsbereitschaft (ebd.). Mit der geteilten Intentionalität ist die Fertigkeit gemeint, geteilte Aufmerksamkeit auf ein Objekt zu richten, ein gemeinsames Ziel zu verfolgen und dabei kooperativ zusammen zu arbeiten und Verpflichtungen einzugehen, um dieses zu erreichen. Bei den genannten psychologischen Prozessen entsteht ein Wirgefühl, dass Tomasello als einzigartig beschreibt. Akteure sind sich darüber im Klaren, dass sie unterschiedliche Sichtweisen auf das gleiche Objekt haben, nehmen unterschiedliche Rollen ein, um ein gemeinsames Ziel zu erreichen. Tomasello geht davon aus, dass die Fähigkeiten nicht durch pädagogische Handlungen anerzogen werden. Vielmehr handelt es sich um angeborene Kompetenzen, die sich durch Lernprozesse entfalten.
Auf die Frage nach der menschlichen Kooperation findet Tomasello keine abschließende Antwort. Es scheint auch nicht seine Anforderung an sich zu sein. Deutlich wird dies an den vier direkt folgenden knappen Stellungnahmen der vier oben genannten Forscher, auf die sich Tomasello in seinem Abschnitt auch teilweise bezieht. Trotz einigem Zuspruch der Forscherkollegen bringen alle vier auch Einwände ein. Carol S. Dweck zum Beispiel gibt zu bedenken, dass nicht unbedingt von einer angeborenen Kompetenz ausgegangen werden kann, da soziale Lernerfahrungen schon sehr früh beginnen und eine klare Unterscheidung, wie Tomasello sie vornimmt, schwer zu vertreten ist. Deutlich wird hier, dass Tomsello sich auf herausforderndes Gebiet begibt. Die Interpretation des neu Erforschten und das Ziehen von Schlüssen ist schwer. Das Buch macht dies sehr gut deutlich und betont damit die Wichtigkeit von selbstreflexivem Denken, dem Tomasello durch das Forum im zweiten Teil seines Buches Raum gibt. Elizabeth S. Spelke betont, dass seine Forschung und Denkansätze die Möglichkeit für neue Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf „fundamentale Fragen nach der menschlichen Natur und dem menschlichen Wissen“ bieten (ebd. S. 122).
Die Stärke dieses Buches liegt in der Beschreibung der Forschungsabläufe und Vorgänge, die das Gesagte veranschaulichen und verdeutlichen. Trotzdem bleibt das Buch in einigen Punkten oberflächlich. Für Leser ohne Vorwissen ist dieses Buch aufgrund des fachlich spezifischen Themas schwerer verständlich und als Einstieg in das Thema somit nicht zu empfehlen. Für diejenigen die bereits Kenntnisse vorweisen können wird dieses Buch unterhaltsam sein und zum Weiterdenken anregen.
Michael Tomasello ist 1950 in Florida den USA geboren worden. Seit 1998 ist er Kodirektor für evolutionäre Anthropologie des Max-Planck-Instituts in Leipzig. Neben diesem Buch sind weitere relevante Publikationen „Die kulturelle Entwicklung des menschlichen Denkens“ und „Die Ursprünge der menschlichen Kommunikation“. Zudem wurden ihm wichtige Auszeichnungen verliehen, wie zum Beispiel der Max-Planck-Forschungspreis der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. (vgl. Tomasello, 2010, Klappentext)
Das Buch ist im Kontext seiner Forschung zu dem Vergleich von Verhalten bei Säuglingen, Kindern und Schimpansen entstanden. Die Studien und Ergebnisse füllen den Großteil dieses Buches, was in zwei Teile unterteilt ist. Im ersten Teil kommt Tomasello zu Wort und im zweiten Teil kommentieren die Forscherkollegen Joan B. Silk, Carol S. Dweck, Brian Skyrms und Elizabeth S. Spelle Tomasellos Ausführung zur menschlichen Kooperation.
Tomasello versucht in seinem Buch menschliche Kooperation und Kultur zu erklären. Durch seine Forschungen erhofft er sich, die Ursprünge der menschlichen Kooperation, die phylogenetischen wie auch die ontogenetischen, zu entdecken. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf zwei grundlegenden Phänomenen. Im ersten Teil seines Buches geht er auf den Altruismus in Form von Helfen, Informieren und Teilen ein. Das kooperative Arbeiten der Menschen trägt zu einem Mechanismus bei, den er den „kulturellen Wagenhebereffekt“ genannt hat (ebd., S. 10). Der Mechanismus beschreibt, dass der Mensch Neues erfindet, immer weiter verbessert und die neuen Versionen übernimmt. Im zweiten Teil setzt er sich mit dem Thema der Kooperation in Gruppen, sowie soziale Normen und Institutionen auseinander. Tomasello spricht davon, dass „die beeindruckendsten kognitiven Leistungen der Menschen […] nicht Produkte allein handelnder, sondern gemeinsam agierender Individuen“ sind (ebd., S. 13).
Dem zugrunde liegen psychologische Prozesse der „geteilten Intentionalität“ und der Kooperations- und Hilfsbereitschaft (ebd.). Mit der geteilten Intentionalität ist die Fertigkeit gemeint, geteilte Aufmerksamkeit auf ein Objekt zu richten, ein gemeinsames Ziel zu verfolgen und dabei kooperativ zusammen zu arbeiten und Verpflichtungen einzugehen, um dieses zu erreichen. Bei den genannten psychologischen Prozessen entsteht ein Wirgefühl, dass Tomasello als einzigartig beschreibt. Akteure sind sich darüber im Klaren, dass sie unterschiedliche Sichtweisen auf das gleiche Objekt haben, nehmen unterschiedliche Rollen ein, um ein gemeinsames Ziel zu erreichen. Tomasello geht davon aus, dass die Fähigkeiten nicht durch pädagogische Handlungen anerzogen werden. Vielmehr handelt es sich um angeborene Kompetenzen, die sich durch Lernprozesse entfalten.
Auf die Frage nach der menschlichen Kooperation findet Tomasello keine abschließende Antwort. Es scheint auch nicht seine Anforderung an sich zu sein. Deutlich wird dies an den vier direkt folgenden knappen Stellungnahmen der vier oben genannten Forscher, auf die sich Tomasello in seinem Abschnitt auch teilweise bezieht. Trotz einigem Zuspruch der Forscherkollegen bringen alle vier auch Einwände ein. Carol S. Dweck zum Beispiel gibt zu bedenken, dass nicht unbedingt von einer angeborenen Kompetenz ausgegangen werden kann, da soziale Lernerfahrungen schon sehr früh beginnen und eine klare Unterscheidung, wie Tomasello sie vornimmt, schwer zu vertreten ist. Deutlich wird hier, dass Tomsello sich auf herausforderndes Gebiet begibt. Die Interpretation des neu Erforschten und das Ziehen von Schlüssen ist schwer. Das Buch macht dies sehr gut deutlich und betont damit die Wichtigkeit von selbstreflexivem Denken, dem Tomasello durch das Forum im zweiten Teil seines Buches Raum gibt. Elizabeth S. Spelke betont, dass seine Forschung und Denkansätze die Möglichkeit für neue Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf „fundamentale Fragen nach der menschlichen Natur und dem menschlichen Wissen“ bieten (ebd. S. 122).
Die Stärke dieses Buches liegt in der Beschreibung der Forschungsabläufe und Vorgänge, die das Gesagte veranschaulichen und verdeutlichen. Trotzdem bleibt das Buch in einigen Punkten oberflächlich. Für Leser ohne Vorwissen ist dieses Buch aufgrund des fachlich spezifischen Themas schwerer verständlich und als Einstieg in das Thema somit nicht zu empfehlen. Für diejenigen die bereits Kenntnisse vorweisen können wird dieses Buch unterhaltsam sein und zum Weiterdenken anregen.
February 3, 2022
yazarın, ilk bölümde kitabın ismine cevap verdiği bir premise bulunuyor. zaten ilk bölümün isminin “yardım etmek için doğmuş” olması da, nasıl bir kitap okuyacağımıza dair bir fikir veriyor. neden ortaklılar kurarız? çünkü bu insan evriminin bir parçası. ilk bölümde birkaç farklı başlık altında bebeklerin davranışlarının incelediği deneylerin sonuçlarından örnekler görüyoruz. buralarda ayrıca insan ırkının uzak kuzenleriyle, bebeklerin davranışları arasında karşılaştırmalar da yer alıyor.
ikinci bölüm de ilk bölüme paralel olacak şekilde devam ediyor. 3 farklı parametre üzerinden insanların genetik olarak yardımlaşmaya, ortaklaşmaya yatkınlığının anlatıldığın görüyoruz. eşgüdüm ve iletişim yine karşılaştırmalı deneyler üzerinden aktarılmakta. 3 yaşındaki bebeklerle şempanzelerin karşılaştırılmasında, bebeklerin biz-merkezli bir bakış açısına sahip olduğu tespit edilebiliyor. hoşgörü ve güven + normlar ve kurumlar başlıklarında da yine benzer şekilde deneylere dayandırılan bilgiler yer alıyor. yazarın da temelde bahsetmeye çalıştığını düşündüğüm şey, insanların baskın tür olmasında ortaklaşmaya genetik olarak yatkınlığın önemi. bir planın parçası olma bilinciyle insanların proaktif eylemler gerçekleştirebilmesi ve koordine olabilmesi, çok az teknolojinin yer aldığı zamanlarda diğer canlılara karşın üstün gelmesinde etkili olmuş gibi görünüyor. neden olarak değil ama sonuç olarak ortaya bu çıkıyor sanırım.
kapsam olarak dar ve kısa bir kitap olmasına rağmen, amacını okuyucuya iyi şekilde aktarmış diyebiliriz. deneylerin doğruluğu konusu bana kalırsa şüpheli olabilir, burada bahsi geçen deneylerin sınırlı katılımcıları bulunuyor.
ayrıca son kısımdaki farklı uzmanların yorumları ile de “recap” yapma ve farklı perspektiflerden bakma fırsatı da olabiliyor.
ikinci bölüm de ilk bölüme paralel olacak şekilde devam ediyor. 3 farklı parametre üzerinden insanların genetik olarak yardımlaşmaya, ortaklaşmaya yatkınlığının anlatıldığın görüyoruz. eşgüdüm ve iletişim yine karşılaştırmalı deneyler üzerinden aktarılmakta. 3 yaşındaki bebeklerle şempanzelerin karşılaştırılmasında, bebeklerin biz-merkezli bir bakış açısına sahip olduğu tespit edilebiliyor. hoşgörü ve güven + normlar ve kurumlar başlıklarında da yine benzer şekilde deneylere dayandırılan bilgiler yer alıyor. yazarın da temelde bahsetmeye çalıştığını düşündüğüm şey, insanların baskın tür olmasında ortaklaşmaya genetik olarak yatkınlığın önemi. bir planın parçası olma bilinciyle insanların proaktif eylemler gerçekleştirebilmesi ve koordine olabilmesi, çok az teknolojinin yer aldığı zamanlarda diğer canlılara karşın üstün gelmesinde etkili olmuş gibi görünüyor. neden olarak değil ama sonuç olarak ortaya bu çıkıyor sanırım.
kapsam olarak dar ve kısa bir kitap olmasına rağmen, amacını okuyucuya iyi şekilde aktarmış diyebiliriz. deneylerin doğruluğu konusu bana kalırsa şüpheli olabilir, burada bahsi geçen deneylerin sınırlı katılımcıları bulunuyor.
ayrıca son kısımdaki farklı uzmanların yorumları ile de “recap” yapma ve farklı perspektiflerden bakma fırsatı da olabiliyor.
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September 7, 2021Pek çok hayvan türü sosyal öğrenme yoluyla diğer bireylerin deneyimlerinden yararlanır ancak sosyal öğrenme düzeyi geliştikçe kültür oluşmaya başlar. Ve insan türü geliştirdiği kültür sayesinde en gelişmiş türdür. Bu sayede yerkürenin dört bir yanına dağılmıştır. Geliştirdiği İletişim ve dil sayesinde insan kültürü benzersizdir ve yerküre üzerinde kendi hegemonyasını kurmuştur.
Burada en büyük ikinci etken geliştirdiği sosyal kurumlardır. Sosyal kurumlar ortaklaşa kararlaştırılan normlar ve kurallar bütünüdür.
Bu iki özelliğin (birikimli kültür ve sosyal kurumlar) temelinde ortaklık kurma becerimiz yatmaktadır. Bununda temelinde başka insanlarla ortak niyet ve yükümlülükler geliştirme yeteneği (niyet paylaşımı) gelmektedir. Bu niyet paylaşımı da başkalarına yardım etmek ve paylaşmak güdülerinden beslenir.
Kitap şempanzelerle paylaştığımız
• özgecilik ( bireyin diğeri için bir tür fedakarlıkta bulunması)
ve • işbirliği (ortaklıklarımız) ve tabii gelişmiş beyin yapımız sayesinde dünya üzerinde hakimiyet kurduğumuz tezini geliştiriyor.
Özellikle evrimsel psikoloji, Antropolojiye meraklıysanız Okumanızı tavsiye ederim.
Burada en büyük ikinci etken geliştirdiği sosyal kurumlardır. Sosyal kurumlar ortaklaşa kararlaştırılan normlar ve kurallar bütünüdür.
Bu iki özelliğin (birikimli kültür ve sosyal kurumlar) temelinde ortaklık kurma becerimiz yatmaktadır. Bununda temelinde başka insanlarla ortak niyet ve yükümlülükler geliştirme yeteneği (niyet paylaşımı) gelmektedir. Bu niyet paylaşımı da başkalarına yardım etmek ve paylaşmak güdülerinden beslenir.
Kitap şempanzelerle paylaştığımız
• özgecilik ( bireyin diğeri için bir tür fedakarlıkta bulunması)
ve • işbirliği (ortaklıklarımız) ve tabii gelişmiş beyin yapımız sayesinde dünya üzerinde hakimiyet kurduğumuz tezini geliştiriyor.
Özellikle evrimsel psikoloji, Antropolojiye meraklıysanız Okumanızı tavsiye ederim.
June 28, 2021
Ortaklık kuruşların deneysel araştırmaları iki temel olguya dayanmaktadır; 1) Özgecilik(fedakarlıklar) 2) İşbirliği…
Yiyecek gibi mallar üzerinden yapılan özgecilik cömertliktir, paylaşımda bulunmadır. Bir kişiye ulaşamadığı bir şeyi gidip getirivermek türünden hizmetler üzerine yapılan özgecilik yardımlaşmadır. Başkalarıyla özgeci bir şekilde bilgi ve tutum paylaşmak (dedikodu da buna dahildir) üzerinden yapılan özgecilikse bilgilendirici olmaktır…
İnsanları işbirliği yapmak için motivr etmenin ve bir grup olarak düşünmelerini sağlamanın en iyi yoku, bir düşman belirlemek ve onların bizi tehdit ettiği konusunda milleti kışkırtmaktır…
Emsalsiz doğamızın anahtarı, bizi ayırt eden sosyal ilişkilerimizdedir. İnsanlar, doğaları gereği ortaklıklar kurmaya ve bilgi, iş ve hedef paylaşmaya meyillidir. Alet kullanımından matematiğe ve sembollere kadar diğer bütün kazanımlarımız bu kapasiteden doğar…
Yiyecek gibi mallar üzerinden yapılan özgecilik cömertliktir, paylaşımda bulunmadır. Bir kişiye ulaşamadığı bir şeyi gidip getirivermek türünden hizmetler üzerine yapılan özgecilik yardımlaşmadır. Başkalarıyla özgeci bir şekilde bilgi ve tutum paylaşmak (dedikodu da buna dahildir) üzerinden yapılan özgecilikse bilgilendirici olmaktır…
İnsanları işbirliği yapmak için motivr etmenin ve bir grup olarak düşünmelerini sağlamanın en iyi yoku, bir düşman belirlemek ve onların bizi tehdit ettiği konusunda milleti kışkırtmaktır…
Emsalsiz doğamızın anahtarı, bizi ayırt eden sosyal ilişkilerimizdedir. İnsanlar, doğaları gereği ortaklıklar kurmaya ve bilgi, iş ve hedef paylaşmaya meyillidir. Alet kullanımından matematiğe ve sembollere kadar diğer bütün kazanımlarımız bu kapasiteden doğar…
October 8, 2022
Kitap tamamen bebekler ve çocuklara bakılarak yapılmış deneylerdeki davranış gözlemlerinden yola çıkarak insanlar arasında yardımlaşm/ortaklaşma/işbirliği yapıları gerçekten var mıdır? sorusuna eğiliyor. Örnekler güzel deneyler enteresandı ancak kuvvetli argümanlarla beraber yapılan deney sonuçlarını birleştiremediğini, sonunda kuvvetli bir tez ortaya koyamadığını düşünüyorum.
December 28, 2018
Based on a series of lectures that the author gave at Stanford University in 2009, this tiny volume explores two key ideas: (1) how children learn to cooperate and (2) why human beings choose to cooperate. Intended for an academic rather than a mainstream audience.
June 13, 2020
Felt like I was in one of his lectures, and that made the material more accessible. The additional (and sometimes contrary) viewpoints at the end were a nice complement.
July 2, 2021
İnsan özünde ortaklaşmacı, yardımsever ve paylaşımcıdır. Yaşadıkları sosyal çevre onları rekabetçi, bencil ve hırsız maymunlara dönüştürür.
March 16, 2022
a warm gem
June 26, 2022
Good book. Really good.
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January 15, 2024Jak ja kocham milion przykładów z malpami
July 4, 2025
Bilimsellikten uzak . Detaylar üzerinde durulmamış . Yazar üzerinde yazılmış yazılar da dahil edilmiş .
March 6, 2014
Concise and thought-provoking distillation of the current debate over what makes us unique as humans -- the first part uses comparative studies with primates to make the case that we *are* in fact unique in our social interactions, while the second part offers a possible evolutionary trajectory for how we got here. I found the second part marginally more novel and interesting, largely due to its discussion of the social norms and institutions that facilitate a shared intentionality.
I saw another reviewer disappointed that the eponymous question was never decisively answered. That's worth a note, I think. While Tomasello makes an excellent and well-supported argument, he's not arrogant enough to claim that he's reached the final, eternal solution. The field is young and many experiments still need to be conducted to conclusively settle the claims at play. Many popular books by scientists in young fields serve more to espouse specific, idiosyncratic research programs than to capture the overall state of the debate. By writing carefully and including a forum in which equally distinguished contemporaries have responded with counterpoints, Tomasello avoids this ego-move. For those who enjoy watching science develop in real-time, this is an exciting document.
I saw another reviewer disappointed that the eponymous question was never decisively answered. That's worth a note, I think. While Tomasello makes an excellent and well-supported argument, he's not arrogant enough to claim that he's reached the final, eternal solution. The field is young and many experiments still need to be conducted to conclusively settle the claims at play. Many popular books by scientists in young fields serve more to espouse specific, idiosyncratic research programs than to capture the overall state of the debate. By writing carefully and including a forum in which equally distinguished contemporaries have responded with counterpoints, Tomasello avoids this ego-move. For those who enjoy watching science develop in real-time, this is an exciting document.
March 28, 2016
This is a short, little book. But, it's packed with interesting ideas.
Tomasello's basic proposition, as I understand it, is that humans cooperate because we have an ability to share intentions, in a symbolic space, and we like to be helpful by sharing information.
He tries to tease apart three different types of altruism, or helpfulness, two of which we share with other great apes. The third, which we do not share with apes, is informative helping. He refers to experiments done with children of various ages from about six months and onward. The results seem to indicate that children of about 14 months of age can infer what the intentions of an adult are, and will spontaneously inform them of where a tool is that they need to inact their intentions. E.g. point to a hidden stapler for an adult that was previously engaged in stapling.
The book benefits from comments from other scientists at the end on the points on which they concur and differ from Tomasello. Joan Silk, Carol Dweck, Brian Skyrms and Elizabeth Spelke are the commenters.
Tomasello's basic proposition, as I understand it, is that humans cooperate because we have an ability to share intentions, in a symbolic space, and we like to be helpful by sharing information.
He tries to tease apart three different types of altruism, or helpfulness, two of which we share with other great apes. The third, which we do not share with apes, is informative helping. He refers to experiments done with children of various ages from about six months and onward. The results seem to indicate that children of about 14 months of age can infer what the intentions of an adult are, and will spontaneously inform them of where a tool is that they need to inact their intentions. E.g. point to a hidden stapler for an adult that was previously engaged in stapling.
The book benefits from comments from other scientists at the end on the points on which they concur and differ from Tomasello. Joan Silk, Carol Dweck, Brian Skyrms and Elizabeth Spelke are the commenters.
March 8, 2013
I once abandoned a fiction book after the author closed a chapter with this line: "And that was the last good day." The book had made me miserable up to that point a third of the way through. I didn't want to spend another week being made even more miserable.
Here we have a non-fiction book with a fine premise, a promising opening, and then rapidly diminishing returns. Just as I wonder to myself, "Is this worth finishing?" comes this bombshell:
"Through processes that we do not understand very well, mutual expectations arise.... I will not pretend that I have any fundamentally new answers to this, one of the most fundamental questions in all of the social sciences: where do these cooperative norms come from and how do they work?"
He goes on to elaborate, but as suggested by the above, we get speculation, not education.
This book is called "Why We Cooperate." It was on page 89 that I discovered the reader would not find out.
Here we have a non-fiction book with a fine premise, a promising opening, and then rapidly diminishing returns. Just as I wonder to myself, "Is this worth finishing?" comes this bombshell:
"Through processes that we do not understand very well, mutual expectations arise.... I will not pretend that I have any fundamentally new answers to this, one of the most fundamental questions in all of the social sciences: where do these cooperative norms come from and how do they work?"
He goes on to elaborate, but as suggested by the above, we get speculation, not education.
This book is called "Why We Cooperate." It was on page 89 that I discovered the reader would not find out.
December 25, 2010
This book has a lofty goal -- explaining how human altruism and cooperativeness developed, given that our closest relatives in the animal kingdom aren't altruistic or cooperative -- but only manages to barely skim the surface of the issue. This book is actually a collection of lectures that Tomasello gave, with some short commentary from other scholars at the end. The only problem is, there isn't much new ground covered here compared to Tomasello's other work. If you want a more in-depth coverage of the evolution of communication, cooperation, altruism, etc., I'd recommend reading one of his other books, The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. That being said, this book would make a good introduction to Tomasello's research for people who don't know about it -- and since it's so short, it a pretty painless way of gaining exposure to the field.
May 30, 2011
A glimpse into why human beings cooperate with each other, this book is bolstered by plenty of research. Citing studies of very young children, Tomasello makes a convincing case that human beings are hard-wired toward not just cooperation, but altruism. He compares research on children to that of other primates, who don't seem to be nearly as prone to help one another. The last part of the book comprises essays by peers who are engaged in the same investigation, who both agree with him and--in some cases--disagree on various points and share their own contentions.
July 19, 2013
The cover of this book promises that it might be a light book, but sadly it's not. Instead this is a book about very in-depth research on cooperation, especially as it relates to humans and great apes. The result is somewhat interesting, though not that interesting to read. The book is then padded out with even less interesting discussions by others in the field.
Overall: definitely some interesting and well-supported ideas here, but not a particularly vibrant book. I mostly skimmed it.
Overall: definitely some interesting and well-supported ideas here, but not a particularly vibrant book. I mostly skimmed it.
August 15, 2011
I put this book on my wishlist because I attended a lecture on this topic by Tomasello a while ago. Though the research described is interesting enough, the writing style is a bit too scientific to read purely for leisure. I guess I could have known that, though, seeing as this is a Boston Review Book.
April 29, 2012
Really interesting stuff on humans social behavior.
If you read the book, I suggest that you dont skip the Forum where other researchers comment and gives critique to the content and conclussions of the book. I especially found the second part written by Carol S. Dweck very interesting and giving.
If you read the book, I suggest that you dont skip the Forum where other researchers comment and gives critique to the content and conclussions of the book. I especially found the second part written by Carol S. Dweck very interesting and giving.
January 2, 2014
My first psychology book and I thought it was informative past just strongly worded anecdotal opinion. Last chapter written by author is short but thoughtfully summed up the piece.
The forum chapters - where guest scientists wrote their peer reviews of the author's work - was more dense, but ultimately interesting to me.
The forum chapters - where guest scientists wrote their peer reviews of the author's work - was more dense, but ultimately interesting to me.
April 16, 2010
Really interesting research on the evolution (literal) of the tendency to cooperate in humans. Includes some fun experiments that people with 1-3 yr olds should absolutely do with their kids. In summary: Expand your tribe!
April 16, 2016
Fascinating and excellent short read. Outlines some great research with infants and apes in regards to cooperation and altruism. Also has a valuable "forum" section in the back with responses and rebuttals.
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