"Survival of the Friendliest"

[rslade]

I don't think this counts as a full book review, but I'd highly recommend that you all read "Survival of the Friendliest" by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods.

Pretty much everyone these days believes in survival of the fittest, and most of us mistake what "fittest" means. As Darwin himself said, the fittest isn't necessarily the biggest or strongest or most vicious, but the one most adaptable to change. Hare and Woods posit that an extremely valuable trait, more valuable than competition or even intelligence, is "friendliness" or "cooperative communication." This is backed up by an amazing range of research and studies from fields as diverse as paleontology, animal breeding, and behavioural conditioning. (It also has implication for security in regard to social engineering and the need for group cooperation in regard to overall defence.)

And, very oddly for a book with such a wealth of scientific study, it's amazingly readable.