Ability to cooperate is important, but I think that status-jockeying is a more ‘fundamental’ advantage because it gives an advantage to individuals, not just groups. Any adaptation that aids groups must first be useful enough to individuals to reach fixation(or near-fixation) in some groups.
I don’t think so, jockeying can only get you so far, and even then only in situations where physical reality doesn’t matter. If you’re in a group of ~50 people, and your rival brings home a rabbit, but you and your friend each bring back half a stag because of your superior coordination capabilities, the guy who brought back the rabbit can say all the clever things he wants, but it’s going to be clear to everyone who’s actually deserving of status. The two of you will gain a significant fitness advantage over the rest of the members of the tribe, and so you will outcompete them.
Fair point, but I note that the cooperative ability only increases fitness here because it boosts the individuals’ status, i.e. they are in a situation where status-jockeying and cooperative behavior are aligned. Of course it’s true that they _are_ often so aligned.
Ability to cooperate is important, but I think that status-jockeying is a more ‘fundamental’ advantage because it gives an advantage to individuals, not just groups. Any adaptation that aids groups must first be useful enough to individuals to reach fixation(or near-fixation) in some groups.
I don’t think so, jockeying can only get you so far, and even then only in situations where physical reality doesn’t matter. If you’re in a group of ~50 people, and your rival brings home a rabbit, but you and your friend each bring back half a stag because of your superior coordination capabilities, the guy who brought back the rabbit can say all the clever things he wants, but it’s going to be clear to everyone who’s actually deserving of status. The two of you will gain a significant fitness advantage over the rest of the members of the tribe, and so you will outcompete them.
Fair point, but I note that the cooperative ability only increases fitness here because it boosts the individuals’ status, i.e. they are in a situation where status-jockeying and cooperative behavior are aligned. Of course it’s true that they _are_ often so aligned.