Team production and the Collaboration Issue

I was immediately fascinated by the experiments that were done to assess the mindset of society when it comes to egalitarianism and general moral well-being. I was shocked at how these qualities are developed so early, and that they persist and are still present in most (if not all) adults today. The experiments in the first article made sense. Without altering the experiment, there was a strong sense of an egalitarian attitude, as they equalized the wealth 75% of the time. But when the conditions were altered, that mentality dwindled and the children didn’t feel any sense of collaboration. I found the collaboration aspect interesting, and the question of “Do Americans view the economy as a collaborative project” was interesting to think about. I have a feeling that when times were more adverse and the country (as a whole) faced some level of threat (the great depression, either world war, the cold war, etc.), society viewed the economy and the fiscal world as more of a group effort. Now, we are so focused on personal well-being that the welfare of others is an afterthought. Although, as proved in the second article dealing with the fairness of decisions and allocations, giving everyone the same thing at the same time isn’t always the solution – people value things differently and aren’t equally satisfied by similar items, whatever they are.

I was also surprised by the results in the experiments featured in the third article about altruism. Initially, I thought that the presence of an incentive or the threat of punishment would motivate people to complete tasks. Seeing that the presence of altruism dwindle as people view actions through the economic lens instead of the moral lens took me by surprise, and it seems that the balance between selfishness and empathy has tilted completely in favor of selfishness. Now that economic thinking has become the normal way in all aspects of life, people aren’t viewing anything as a collaborative effort – essentially eliminating the moral side of decision-making and transactions. People just want the most economic gains for themselves as individuals. The problem seems to be the assumption that people are selfish (which has led to a less trusting and cooperative society). I’m sure some people are inherently selfish, but I feel like most people understand the benefits of trying to maximize the common good. It doesn’t help that institutions that arouse the dissipating moral lens are going away. As the third article mentioned, the state and the market have growing roles in peoples’ lives, and it’s taking away the sense of collaboration and “togetherness” that the country once prided itself on.

Successful team production requires similar goals and similar valuations of certain things. When you want the same thing and value things similarly to others, it’s easier to divide rewards. I think the issue today is that people’s goals are so individualized, that it’s near impossible to evenly distribute anything (especially wealth) without making someone upset. Team success stems from collaborative effort, avoiding the free-rider problem, and the idea that your own effort is going to benefit not just yourself, but the overall team. I think we need to eliminate the assumption that selfishness is already such a presence in society. I starts with understanding individual values and morals – you are eliminating productive possibilities if you assume that people don’t have the ability to collaborate effectively on any task or transaction. I personally don’t consider myself selfish, and I don’t assume that people are selfish when I interact or meet with them. Selfishness can be learned over time but shouldn’t be assumed initially, and its this mindset that is causing virtually everything to be viewed through the financial/economic lens.