I never really gave it much real thought, but Ms. Raihani's book makes a lot of sense. I always taken it for granted that wars fostered innovation, technology and idea sharing. Gave me lots of food for thought. I share skills with friends, who share skills with me and then we pass them along to others. And that does seem to be how civilization advances, small sharing of skills and ideas. Kudos Ms. Raihani!

In "The Social Instinct", Professor in Evolution and Behavior at University College of London, Nichola Raihani, looks at how working as a group has been built into our genes, while also remaining competitive with one another.
This was a very accessible look at how humans succeed as a social animal.

This was an incredibly in-depth review on how cooperation and social interactions of various types occur throughout the natural world. At times it was a bit tedious to get through as it was so detailed but I appreciated the scientific research to back up what was written.

The Social Instinct-How Cooperation Shaped the World is an incredibly complex and important book that breaks down Cooperative Behavior from the smallest~down to cellular DNA and the earliest involving Darwinism and Evolution~to the Largest where Cooperation is spoken about on a Global Scale.

The author is extremely intelligent and is an Evolutionary Biologist with years of experience and practice in this field. So, some of the material I did find a lot to take in. I actually took 6 pages of notes. I do love to learn new facts and certainly feel I achieved a much broader knowledge of how our individual systems work and large scale systems function. So, any mistakes made in this review are mine alone.

The book is helpful as it is broken down into 4 individual areas. 1. The Making of You and Me., 2. The Family Way, 3. Widening the Net, 4. A Different Kind of Ape.

The Making of You and Me was the most technical and scientific. I did struggle to keep all these facts straight. At the core, we are made up of DNA. Still, most would consider humans to be individual from our DNA, even though it is functions as a collaborative force. Also, we are not considered a solely functioning Collaborative Species at all times, but as an individual unit. Ants, on the other hand are thought of as a collaborative species, as they could not function if they did not each have a role in the group. This is true of bees as well.

So, from the start collaboration between cells also can cause conflict. Genes will function to provide for the whole unit, but there are selfish gene variants. These genes want to look after themselves and get the greatest advantage. The solution becomes cooperation from gene groups that put a stop to this self-serving gene. The same is true with cancer, as tumors grow because diverse cell groups help each other out. Cooperation does not always bring a rewarding outcome.

2. The Family Way. Social Activity is essential, but varies based on the species. Many examples were given using Chimps, Yellow-Billed Hambill, and Birds. Usually, evolution or circumstance makes us behave in ways conducive to having off-spring. Most species, the Mother is the primary caregiver. Still, in Australia men were convicts and outnumbered women 16-1. This made them change their behavior to be very active in looking after the female and then looking after their children. This remains the Cultural Norm today.

Concept of Cooperative Breeding is discussed. When extended family and older sibling help out, the outcome is usually better. It is a relatively new concept that the Mother must be alone with her children. Many studies have shown that Cooperative Help, such a Day Care and Child Groups are more beneficial to children.

3. Widening the Net. We may be the only species capable of Empathy and Wanting to Alleviate the Other’s Pain. This can be a great force for Cooperation, but we need to understand motive.

Often, the goal as Social Creatures is we learn it is essential to be part of the group. We can go against the group, but this will bring a high price. We have learned over time, to survive we must rely on others. Punishment can be used as a tool, but actually social pressure to conform is a much bigger motivator to success. We self police ourselves and others to come to on overall better outcome.

4. A Different Sort of Ape. Humans tend to do a lot of Social Comparing. We are eager to measure up against those around us. So, when we collaborate, we have also evolved to notice Conflict that can come. As we have expanded, and have our material needs addressed, humans tend to widen the Net to larger groups. Yet, we do tend to be quite self-serving. Cooperation among a large group can also have victims of this behavior. Bribery, Nepotism, and Corruption are examples. Less well-off groups will be taken advantage of.

When tragic circumstances happen such as Covid-19, humans can be very helpful and altruistic toward those around them, but selfish as well. They want all the food bought and the rolls of paper towels. We tend to forget the larger sector at this time.

In light of all this human behavior where Cooperation can bring us together, but easily fall apart, can we ever act truly globally in all our interests to stop massive problems such a Climate Change, Destroying our Habitat, Containing Diseases? Nichola Raihani says there is hope, as humans have the ability to change the rules. We can mutually agree to some coercion to make necessary change. We can do what will save up, but this is up to us.

Thank you NetGalley, Nichola Raihani, and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book.

This book is all about cooperation. The author examines cooperation on different levels, from the cellular level all the way up to the level of societies and civilizations. She explores the effects of social interaction on the ultimate success of different species, and even theorizes on how our lives as social creatures are related to the current pandemic. The book has four parts, with a total of 18 chapters.

Part One focuses on the smallest levels of cooperation, describing the ways cells and genes work together to create larger organisms. In this section Raihani also discusses the social dynamics of ant colonies, and other species that cooperate for the greater good of the collective. The role of mitochondria is discussed, as well as the proliferation of cancer cells.

Part Two deals with cooperation on the family unit level. Raihani discusses the differences in priorities between males and females of various species; and describes relationships between sexual partners, and between children and parents. She explores how cooperation gave humans and advantage over other species. There is also a chapter detailing Raihani's research on pied babblers, an interesting bird that she studied for years.

Part Three is focused on the next higher level of cooperation, as it deals with small groups of people and extended families. Raihani discusses the motivations of small communities, why people are incentivized to help their neighbors, and how social norms reward certain behaviors while punishing others. She also demonstrates how reputation systems are important for fostering cooperation in a group.

Part Four discusses the differences between humans and other species, when it comes to our social interactions and how we cooperate. Raihani explores complex collaboration, different systems of cooperation that evolve, and even paranoia. She describes different types of leadership and hierarchical systems, and how collectivism affects behavior.

Overall I found this book to be interesting and easy to read. Even though there was quite a bit of information that I already knew; I was impressed by Raihani's ability to connect these topics together and effectively demonstrate how cooperation is key. This is a shorter book, and doesn't take long to read, so I think it is certainly worth your time.

Good popular science book on the topic of cooperation all throughout the animal kingdom and spanning our whole evolutionary history. Despite that sweeping topic, it's not a long book. The broadness of the subject does sometimes make the book's organization feel a bit random, but cooperation is still a subject I think we could all use more of in this divisive world, so I found it helpful to ponder why we do (and don't) cooperate, both on the individual level and the societal. Might make you rethink your own motives now and then, and at the very least will give you some fun anecdotes about animal behavior. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for offering this book to me for review!

Excellent book! Based on extraordinarily thorough research by the author, this book examines cooperation among members of numerous species in the animal world. There is a lot of discussion of cooperation among insects, birds, and fish; I would liked to have focused on humans more. However, the book was beautifully written, especially for the layperson. Fascinating topic!

3.5 stars. I received this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. I don't think I would have read it otherwise. The book looks at cooperation from the minuscule (cells), through animals and insects, and on to humans. I found the topic of ant colonies being more like bodies than a society of individuals especially interesting. The later chapters on human cooperation was less interesting, sociology having never really been my thing, with the exception of the part about evolution and how we evolved to be generous. Like most nonfiction, if you're interested in the topic, you'll probably like it. It's well written and easy to follow.

I was delighted that Martins’s Press offered me the chance to read this new book about cooperative behaviour. I read it slowly and carefully, enjoying every chapter. As a biased reviewer (animal behavior was my career choice) I set down here my criteria for giving the book five stars. The first star is for being a timely book about one of my favorite subjects and one that humans need to understand in more depth. I give another star for the text being well organized, written, clear, humorous, personal, and without too much redundancy. The third star is for being so thorough, extensive, and wide ranging in terms of topics, species, and research (loved the babblers, meerkats, mongooses, and cleaner fish, and that impersonator, the blenny!). My fourth star I give to Nichola Raihani for engaging my interest throughout a rather densely packed overview of cooperation/conflict balancing in basic biology as well more complex social behaviour. The instinct part of her title was a bit misleading and she does tell us how social behavior is decidedly variable and influenced by context and environment.
As I neared the end of this book, I worried that readers would be given some pseudo solution or false hope for solving the global vs personal cooperation/conflict we humans are facing big time. I was glad the author ended with a sane view about humanity’s uncertain future (e.g. think globally, act locally). The notes, references, and excellent index earned the book another star. In sum, this is definitely a five star book. Anyone interested in social behaviour should read it and enjoy.

Popular science. Quite well written. Thesis is that cooperation, not just competition, is at the heart of evolution. It thus refutes the dog eat dog perspective. Of course the cooperation she’s talking about allows each entity or species to have an advantage in terms of survival and population growth. She begins at the molecular level and works her way through cells, organisms, species and societies up to the beginnings of the Covid19 crisis in 2020. I learned a lot. Recommended. In fact one of my book clubs is taking it up.

Why can’t we all just…get along? But we do. Our bodies are forged in cooperation, writes Nichola Raihani: we are the creation of cells that banded together, strengthened by outside prokaryotes who we put to work as mitochondria. Our cells create organs, tissues, and structures, culminating in an individual, who then cooperates with still others to form a massive global society of people sitting and staring at their phones. Humans are uniquely cooperative, frequently coming together en masse to help out perfect strangers — behavior unobserved in any other species, where altruistic behavior is limited to one’s immediate family circle. Nevertheless, we’re still fairly fluid about expanding or reining in the circle of those we care about; a wide-scale disaster can elicit both solidarity (volunteer search efforts, blood banks, etc) and selfishness (supply hoarding). I thought her analysis of the role of cooperation in human evolution and society to be a mixed bag; her observation that cooperation and competition are usually conjoined (we cooperate most often to compete against others or a mutual obstacle) was noteworthy, for instance, but understanding menopause as a cooperative action (grandmothers shutting down their own systems to prioritize her children’s child rearing efforts within the same household) was needlessly subtle compared to Jared Diamond’s more straightforward speculation that menopause is a way for the female body to protect itself against increasingly more dangerous pregnancies, and to focus resources on existing children or grandchildren. Raihani’s own speculation depended on a pervasive mother/daughter-in-law dynamic and potential power struggle. On the whole, The Social Instinct is full of interest, and I especially appreciated its expansive cell-to-societies survey, but I found some of its claims more dubious than others.

I enjoyed this book. It has everything I expect in good science writing: written in a conversational tone, with the science clearly explained, and topped off by a sense of humor. The subject matter could have been tedious, but Nichola Raihani’s well-paced writing brings the information to life. I also enjoyed the author's personal anecdotes. The footnotes, as well, are worth reading. Sometimes authors finish their nonfiction books by looking at broader issues and frequently these don’t appeal to me, but this book is an exception in that I found the ending particularly strong. Overall, this is a great book that is well worth the read. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy.