If collaboration is theoretically better - why is competition everywhere?
Can it change? Does it have to? Read more…

In theory, collaboration is more effective and more efficient than competition. Cavemen understood it. Investment bankers understand it. When you combine resources and skills you stand a better fighting chance. Logical, right? Growth is good for you.

Then why is competition everywhere? Instead of forming a happy Utopia of Humans, we have countries, cultures, religions, companies, … all of whom fight each other with ferocious fury.

I believe it starts (and can evolve) with how we define and manage identities.
The principle is the same everywhere. It holds justs as well for micro-organisms as for galaxies. The important bit is where we draw the line, the separation between in and out. Growth is good for you… at the expense of not-you. As soon as something has an identity - that thing needs to defend itself against the chaos around it to survive. A rock is not a rock any more if it gets grinded to dust by a glacier. A company is not a company any more if it doesn’t extract profits from the world. A country can’t exist without borders that separate it from other countries. An ego can’t exist if it admits that we serve a common purpose.

Collaboration and competition actually always co-exist.
There’s cooperation on the inside of the identity circle - and competition of the circle with the outside, mostly similar circles.

Unless an alien race tries to destroy humanity, reuniting all in a glorious human purpose, the level of competition we currently have amongst ourselves is just the normal state of things… It’s the best we can do. And maybe even then collaboration is not guaranteed… For COVID-19 sadly the answer was not always collaboration between all…

“Seriously??”

Sure, we’ve done some experiments beyond traditional identities to try to change the current outcome - but these have mostly failed. Cooperatives are companies that share profits with employees. Collectives are individuals that share resources to achieve economies of scale and scope. Communes are individuals that share a home. None of these new models have been very successful. None seem to be able to dominate the world the way countries, cultures, religions and companies do. The biggest circles win, and compete with anything not-them, including similar circles.

“No, seriously - there must be a better way. There is too much human suffering at the moment.”

Actually, human suffering has declined steadily - relatively speaking at least and more often than not also in absolute numbers. So we’re on a good trajectory. Things will just keep getting better overall. It’s horrible when it happens - but the wars we have and the injustices of inequality are just temporary differences that will get smoothed out over generations of evolution to a better minimum.

“That’s outrageous! I don’t agree and you are an awful person.
…But even supposing you’re right: The planet is being consumed to a pulp.
Biodiversity and other valuable resources are being destroyed. There will be nothing left.”

Hmm… You make a point. Maybe something needs to change.
We could hope technology saves us? By inventing some magical new way of doing things.
Or taking us to the next planet to consume?

“I need more than hope.
I need proof of something better - that just needs time to grow.”

We’re working on it. ZinZen® is not only about individual goals.
There’s a bigger picture. But as with all paradigm shifts - we cannot predict or explain it just yet… It is our hope that the emergent properties of the ZinZen® ecosystem will help us rise to the occasion of swarming around big hairy humanity-level goals, finding solutions in the open, and transforming those into everyday actions people can take by themselves to influence our collective future.