What Does cooperation Mean
The Latin word cooperatio derived from the term cooperation , which refers to the act and result of cooperating : acting together to achieve a common goal or act in favor of someone's interests .
For example: “Due to the consequences of the floods, the victims will need everyone's cooperation to get ahead” , “Excuse me, could I ask for your cooperation? I have a mechanical problem and I need help to push my car ” , “ Both countries established a scientific cooperation agreement ” .
Cooperation implies a collaboration , a contribution or an assistance . Suppose that two nations sign an educational cooperation agreement . The pact proposes that experts in educational policies and educators from both countries work together to improve the training of all inhabitants.
Cooperation agreements in different areas are common between States to mutually enhance each other. In this context we can speak of military cooperation , the environmental cooperation , the judicial cooperation and economic cooperation , among others.
There are also various international cooperation organizations . Among them is the Indian Ocean Regional Cooperation , established in 1995 and currently made up of nineteen members. Its function is to provide information to entrepreneurs in the region to promote investment and commercial activity.
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation , for its part, works to establish common criteria that allow regional development. This institution was created in 1992 , with headquarters in Istanbul ( Turkey ). Its members include Turkey , Russia , Greece , Ukraine , Romania , Serbia , Bulgaria and Albania .
Several researchers, including Martin Nowak and Robert Axelrod , developed the theory of cooperation at the end of the 20th century , based on the idea that each individual pursues their own interest, without being forced by a central authority to help others. . Axelrod published a book entitled The Evolution of Cooperation , in which he investigates the ways in which cooperation arises and is maintained in a community, and under what conditions selfishness tends to predominate.
An American mathematician named Merrill Flood Meeks , for his part, developed a problem called the prisoner's dilemma , which serves to show that two individuals can choose not to cooperate even if it is contrary to the personal interest of each. Let's see its classic enunciation below:
Two suspicious people are arrested by the police. There is not enough evidence to convict them, for which they are separated and offered the following treatment: if only one of them confesses, they grant her freedom and sentence the other to ten years in prison; if they both confess, then they are sentenced to six years; if both deny their guilt, then the sentence for both is one year.
Taking these possibilities into account, if the two prisoners are selfish and only pursue the goal of being released as soon as possible, they have two options at their disposal: remain silent to help their accomplice, or betray him by means of a confession. Let's not forget that each one's decision does not lead to a specific conviction until the other's and, to further complicate matters, neither of them knows what their partner will do.
The study of this dilemma leads us to suppose that even after a supposed conversation in which both prisoners could agree could they really trust the other, and for this reason cooperation is not the dominant attitude , but confession; Of course, if they both decide to confess, believing that this increases their chances of being released, they will both face a sentence.