Panel: The Moral Sentiment of Us

Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM18), April 17-18, 2018

Large-scale cooperation has been at the very core of the evolution of our species from hunter-gatherer primates to the most complex and successful species on the globe. Our moral sentiments have evolved to sustain cooperation, to prioritize the success of the group over the individual. Nonetheless, not all groups are created equal as we find immense variation on what it takes to belong to a given cohesive community. Facilitating cooperation across diverse groups that do not share beliefs, worldviews and preferences is paramount to the future success of humanity. To address this challenge the "dismal science" may need to move away from its simplified view of human behavior – homo economicus – and incorporate relevant findings from moral psychology, anthropology and evolutionary biology, in order to get at the true drivers of collaboration. In this session we will discuss: How can we explain the breadth and intensity of human cooperation?, What drives innovation and cultural evolution? How do people learn and transmit culture?, How do groups with different identities form, coexist and cooperate?, How can these elements help explain the tension around key policy issues? How can they signal a way forward?

Speakers:

Joseph Henrich, Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology of Harvard University

Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business

Moderated by: Nancy Gibbs, Visiting Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

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