arvard Professor of Biology and Mathematics Martin Nowak and Sarah Coakley, the Edward Mallinckrodt Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, are working together on a puzzle: why does natural selection, which is based on the concept of competition, also lead to unselfish behavior? Examples of such cooperation include the way cells work with one another to create organisms all the way to the everyday cooperation humans display in social groups.
Nowak, a world-class mathematical biologist, is using game theory to help unlock some of the mysteries of evolutionary cooperation. The implications of his research could go well beyond biology. “It is interesting to see that natural selection—a fundamental force of nature—can lead to altruism. We are in discussions with theologians and philosophers to understand what kind of altruism natural selection can produce,” says Nowak.
Nowak defines altruism as being an interaction between two individuals—a donor and a recipient—when the donor pays a cost such that the recipient has a benefit. What is interesting for Nowak and his research team is the fact that cooperation and natural selection are not always considered compatible, and yet there is an evolution of cooperation, “Natural selection is based on competition between individuals, and thus one individual should never pay a cost in order to help another individual unless a specific mechanism is involved.” (Click here for The Five Types of Cooperation)
Supported by a $2 million grant from the Foundation, the three-year interdisciplinary “Theology of Cooperation” research project is investigating the implications of the evolutionary phenomenon of cooperation for theology. Questions being addressed, among others, include using cooperation to rethink the basic metaphors of Darwinian theory as well as how traditional arguments for the existence of God should be addressed in the light of game theory’s explication of the emergence of ‘cooperation’? Nowak says that one of the group’s tasks is to analytically define cooperation in order to distinguish it from other related terms, such as ‘altruism’, ‘love’, and ‘self-sacrifice’?
“As a scientist, I want to formulate evolution, and therefore all of biology, in the language of mathematics. Scientific understanding is never complete unless a clear mathematical theory has been formulated and experimentally tested.”
The program has hired four post-doctoral students to assist with the research, as well as hosting a popular lecture series at the Harvard Divinity School. Recent speakers included professors John Hedley Brooke from Oxford University and Friedrich Lohmann from the University of Tübingen. There is also a discussion group with theologians—led by project co-director Sarah Coakley— who talk about the latest developments in the field.
Nowak says that one of the group’s goals is to produce a book that addresses the subject of evolutionary biology and religion. “The fascinating questions of evolution cannot be discussed without talking about cooperation. I find it interesting and important to understand how evolutionary biology fits into the broader perspective of philosophy and religion. One should not ignore the questions evolutionary biology raises for religion and theology, and vice versa. What is needed is to have a conversation between the two disciplines.”
Nowak is not short of plans for future research projects. “The evolution of saints is something that I would like to think about,” says Nowak. “Nobody has thought about this.” Because evolution is a force of nature, as constant as gravity, it can be looked at as the engine that constructs living systems. “Every living system has a history of its evolution,” says Nowak. “Therefore in a general way you can say that an evolutionary process leads to saints, to holy people. What is this evolution and how can we understand it? I think this is a fascinating question.”
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