I just watched a documentary on Netflix that was based on Jared Diamond’s book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies and I’ve been moved. Jared lays out the major factors for why some societies are wealthy and others are in poverty, and they all boil down to one thing: geography. It’s not this simple, but the idea is that temperate climates, combined with high-yield crops like wheat which allow for farm animal domestication, allow people to spend time developing new technologies to fulfill and build wealth. Where these things have not existed, we find poverty and the conquered.

Well worth my time to watch, and I’ve added the book to my list to learn more. It’s quite sad, but also encouraging.

Dear Facebook.

Yes, I’m not logging in from the same computer. No, I don’t have that computer anymore. No, I am not sending you or anyone else a scan of one of my IDs. No, I am not a hacker. No, I probably won’t log in anymore.

Game theory investigates the motives and dilemmas of social interactions relative to selfishness and cooperation. As we understand game theory we can increase our chances of finding satisfying resolutions by adopting new strategies or even by just having a clearer view of social dilemmas and their underlying causes. In his book on the subject, Rock Paper Scissors, Len Fisher gives the following ten tips:

1. Keep the same strategy if you’re winning, shift strategies if you lose.
2. Bring a third player in. They can be a known negotiator or a known cheater – either way it helps.
3. Set up reciprocity. Knowing that you’ll deal with people after a conflict can increase the incentive to cooperate.
4. Limit future options or provide incentives. This shows that you are committed to the best possible outcomes.
5. Offer trust. It’s simple, but it can be effective.
6. Create a situation from which neither party can escape from without loss.
7. Use side-payments to maintain cooperation.
8. Know the seven deadly dilemmas and avoid the worst outcomes:
   1. The Prisoner’s Dilemma – all must cooperate or all fail.
   2. The Tragedy of the Commons (a series of Prisoner’s Dilemmas) –self-interest prevents cooperation despite impending long-term failure.
   3. The Free Rider problem – people taking advantage of a community resource without contributing to it.
   4. Chicken/Brinkmanship – each side tries to push the other as close to the edge as they can, with each hoping that the other will back down first.
   5. The Volunteer’s Dilemma – someone must make a sacrifice on behalf of the group, but if no one does, then everyone loses out.
   6. The Battle of the Sexes – two people have different preferences, but each would rather share the other’s company than pursue their own preference alone.
   7. Stag Hunt – cooperation between members of a group gives them a good chance of success in a risky, high-return venture, but an individual can win a guaranteed but lower reward by breaking the cooperation and going it alone.
9. Work to create transparent processes that are inherently fair.
10. Favor smaller groups, it’s easier to foster trust and cooperation

Every six months or so, a movie comes out that has the capacity to actually change me. I have to admit that I have scoffed the recent push for organic foods a few times, but I won’t anymore. In fact I may even buy some, because I appreciate what they are trying to do and I want to cast my vote at the checkout scanner for the foods that are produced responsibly and sustainably.

Anyway, enough of the rhetoric. No matter what foods you like, you should see this movie, gather some information and then make a decision about your life and your food, because it does matter.