Cooperation

Cooperation is behavior designed to help the group, which in turn helps group members.

Ahhhhh, what a difference between this definition and the one for competition, which is, "Behavior designed to gain advantage over other agents." Both can achieve goals. Once true cooperative skills are acquired cooperation can be more efficient than competition, because everyone is paddling in the same direction for the life of the canoe.

This ideal goes against conventional wisdom, which believes healthy competition is the most efficient mode. Some point to the failure of communism as proof. Well, that proved communism was a failure, not cooperation. But competition is so culturally ingrained that it will take a long time, or an astounding crisis like the one we're in now, to change that mind set.

Cooperation benefits the group, competition benefits the individual gene or meme. Once we become a global family of cooperators, this may lead to jokes like "Your jeans are showing again."