Conflict, Failure to Cooperate, and Dereliction of Duty among Humans: Causes and Consequences

I​

Human conflict is ubiquitous. It is often covert and exists in every type of human social interaction, ranging from that between happy lovers, to all types of leaders and their followers, to that between politicians, bureaucrats and the rest of society, to that between states, alliances of states, and large sections of humanity bound by one common characteristic (e.g. religion)[1].

II​

Human failure to cooperate is also quite common, and ranges from that between family members, on a simple household task, to unwillingness to seek mutually beneficial agreements between states or failure to cooperate on a mutually beneficial international project (e.g. continental defence).

III​

Human propensity for dereliction of duty is also very common and occurs at all levels of society (from individuals to states) and at all jobs and activities.

IV​

All sources (i.e. causes) of human conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty are psychological and include attempts to boost one’s shaky self-esteem through attempts to control, manipulate, outdo, humiliate and hurt others; attempts by those with very high and unshakable self-esteem to become a ‘god’ (i.e. rise high above the masses) by attempting to rapidly accumulate wealth, power, and prestige; selfish pursuit of self-interest, even at the expense of others; and human propensity for vengeance.

V​

The consequences of human propensity for vengeance is worthy of special consideration. On the one hand, human tendency to take revenge for perceived wrongs is likely the most common cause of human conflicts, uncooperative behavior, and dereliction of duty, with the most harmful consequences for humanity. It exists in every type of social interaction, from the most loving, between individuals, to the most hostile, between states. On the other hand, human propensity for vengeance forces everyone, from individuals to states, to think twice before doing something objectively harmful or even subjectively displeasing to others. Hence, human propensity for vengeance limits the reign of other causes of human conflict, uncooperative behavior, and dereliction of duty.

VI​

Be that as it may, the above-listed causes of human conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty also apply to various human groups, from families and clans, to ethnic groups, states, and broad religious groups (e.g. Christians). Hence, an ethnic group, for example, might attempt to boost its shaky sense of ethnic pride by attempting to control, manipulate, outdo, humiliate, and hurt other ethnic groups. On the other hand, an ethnic group with very high and unshakable self-esteem (e.g. ancient Romans) may attempt to become the most powerful, wealthiest and most prestigious ethnic group on the continent by conquering all others ethnic groups. At the same time, a member of a military alliance, for example, may fail to come to the aid of an ally out of selfish inclinations. Finally, any human group may neglect its duties, to another group, fail cooperate with it, or attack it in order to take revenge for perceived wrongs the other group has done to it.

VII​

In different cases, the above-described motives for human conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty, can range from those below conscious awareness, of those individuals or groups who exhibit them, to deliberate, calculated attempts to reach goals.

VIII​

Due to their presence in every type of human social interaction (from interpersonal to international) and all levels of society (from individual to national), human conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty, cause large amounts of harm to humanity’s welfare. This harm ranges from individual psychological and physical pain and privation, to a multitude of intrastate social problems, to destruction of whole nations. Hence, it is clear that even if human suffering and lives are not counted, human propensity for conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty are a waste of time, energy, and resources; since they involve billions of people harming and working against each other in various ways, instead of working together towards a common goal.

IX​

To be sure, under motivation by fear or self-interest, people can often be observed cooperatively working towards a common goal. However, all such cooperative enterprises are rife with internal conflicts, failures to cooperate on various tasks, and mass dereliction of duty; all of which, not surprisingly, severely diminish the efficiency of all human collective enterprises.

X​

Hence, humanity will have a hard time winning a war against a collective of creatures with similar (or even lesser) intellectual capabilities, but a lack of human propensity for conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty. Science fiction provides many possible examples of such creatures, ranging from autonomous societies of robots, to intelligent extraterrestrials organized like insect societies. Developments in military robotics, for example, already suggest that artificial intelligence, despite lacking human creativity, can easily outperform human decision makers on the battlefield and in many other tasks; in virtue of much more rapid and efficient information sharing, decision making (even if rigid compared to that of humans) and cooperative abilities between AI agents; which would be severely compromised if they engaged in human-style conflicts among themselves, often failed to cooperate with each other, or systematically neglected their duties.

XI​

On the other hand, human propensity for conflict, in particular, gives humanity some degree of preparation for a serious conflict with a collective of other intelligent creatures, who lack internal conflicts, failures to cooperate, or dereliction of duty. In particular, chronic conflict builds psychological resilience for withstanding even more/greater conflict. (However, the likes of robots/AIs have infinite ‘psychological’ resilience, when compared to humans.) In addition, constant military conflict leads to rapid development of new more destructive and more efficient weapons, and better, more flexible strategy and tactics; which may make a difference between human survival and human extinction, in the event of war of annihilation with a collective of more efficient, more cooperative intelligent creatures. (However, the likes of psychological strategy/tactics will not work on the likes of robots/AIs.)

XII​

However, human experience with various large scale (e.g. political) attempts to dominate and exploit each other, will be of no use against creatures who lack human propensity for conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty; while these human qualities could be easily exploited by them to defeat humanity. For example, human desire to outdo each other and benefit personally, at the expense of others, provides an easy route for turning members of alliances against each other. Similarly, while propaganda and offers of resources would be of no use in turning collectivist creatures, who lack human propensity for intraspecies conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty, against each other; such methods have proven very effective in turning humans against each other. In addition, human desire to outdo each other and benefit personally, at the expense of others, not to mention the fact that some people have vengeful desires towards humanity at large, can easily lead many humans to voluntary join forces with non-human enemies of humanity.

XIII​

Thus, humanity’s chances of victory, against much more efficient and cooperative non-human invaders, are rather slim; which opens the question of the possible consequences, for humanity, of being defeated. One possibility is that the conquerors of humanity will form the master class, while humans will be turned into a class of their serfs. However, this possibility is likely to take place only if the conquerors of humanity will quickly come up with valuable (for them) functions for humanity to fill in, while simultaneously making the risk of human rebellion close to zero (the Matrix saga is a good, fictional example, of this). Conversely, if the conquerors of humanity will see the defeated humanity as being useless and a threat to their objectives, then an attempt, on their part, to exterminate humanity is very likely (e.g. the Terminator saga).

XIV​

Despite their many drawbacks, human propensity for conflict, failure to cooperate, and dereliction of duty, have led to the (1) emergence, (2) expansion, and (3) possibly even preservation of state societies:
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(The whole essay could not fit here. So, for the rest, see: https://roughdraftsofnewtheorie.wor...of-duty-among-humans-causes-and-consequences/)

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Notes:

[1] It is worth remembering that human conflict (in the sense used in this essay) is different from competition, which, unlike conflict, despite being motivated by many of the same impulses, presupposes honesty, openness about the methods which will be used to pursue victory, pre-determined rules, attempts to avoid psychologically and physically harming the participants, and freedom for all potential opponents to not participate (else they feel not prepared, and/or that the contest is not worth their time, energy and resources). Good examples of competition include fair athletic contests and fair free market exchanges, both of which are known to be more effective/socially beneficial than their uncompetitive/cooperative alternatives (e.g. athletic pursuits where there is no one/nothing to compete against, and command economy).