BYB Sunday: Cooperation

Given the dark tone of my post on cooperation (Our Strength, Our Weakness), I felt like talking about it again in a manner that emphasizes the positive aspects that it bestows. Trust & cooperation are aspects of my world that I encounter directly and indirectly every day. When I come to a stop-light, the other motorists and I cooperate to avoid a crash. When I buy food at the supermarket, the clerks cooperate to make the groceries available, track what is used so they can ensure they have enough, etc. When I ride an elevator up to the floor of the building I work (OK, I actually us the stairs, since I need the exercise, but the idea is the same), it requires cooperation on the part of the maintenance personnel who keep the thing running, the building inspectors who make sure it's safe, etc. Cooperation is evident not only in the present, but in the past as well. All the things I take for granted, like telephones, fresh water, buildings, medicine, etc. are only possible because of the cooperative efforts of people across the ages. As Sir Isaac Newton said: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." The achievements of today build on the efforts of those who have come before us. Cooperation seems to come naturally to human beings. It is rare enough for people to live alone to be dubbed "hermits." Even then it is unlikely that such people are no interaction with the wider society. Indeed, the idea of cutting off all contact with other people is considered a punishment in and of itself. Therefore cooperation remains, in my opinion, a blessing, not a curse. Tags: BYB, BYBS, Blog Your Blessings Sunday, Cooperation.