Toward A Literacy of Cooperation

In regard to the role of cooperation and collective action in human enterprise, our level of knowledge is scarcely higher than knowledge about disease before the discovery of microorganisms. Descartes decreed that a "new method" was required to think about the physical world: from that new method of thinking, scientific method led to biology, biology created the knowledge that served as the foundation for medicine; before we can approach the solution to problems of conflict, cooperation, and governance ­ the "medicine" for social ills ­ we need fundamental knowledge ­ the "biology" of collective action. But before an interdisciplinary understanding can emerge, a new way of thinking across disciplinary boundaries is required; it is that understanding we hope to catalyze.