Strangers & relatives

Cooperation in Anonymity --- Neuroscience Perspective from Coordination Problem by Peter Boettke

A core claim of the modern Austrian school of economics as reflected in the work of Ludwig von Mises and F. A. Hayek is the possibility of social cooperation under the division of labor in the 'great society'. Strangers are brought into cooperation with one another through exchange.

This morning I heard a fascinating presentation by Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate School on Trust, Economic Freedom, and Development.  Zak's research in neuroscience has explored the biological bases of trust that complements the institutional work on economic freedom. Zak is current writing a book The Moral Molecule, and he maintains a blog at Psychology Today.

Comment posted by: Bireshwar Choudhury Re: Manoj Das Gupta demands apology from RY Deshpande

The matter, I said, was very plain to an outsider like me who is not dependent on the Trust for his physical needs. There are material and vital interests and this kind of story is as old as the hills, but I was a little aggrieved that it was repeating itself in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, for which I have deep regard.

If you want me to do research on Deshpande-ji, then I would recommend you to do some fact-finding on the present situation of the Ashram community at Pondicherry. The first question that I would like you to gather statistics on is “Who is whose relation, friend, relative, or close associate?” and how these various relations have affected them taking sides in this particular issue. You don’t have to be very intelligent to gather data on this, a simple headcount would do. […]

Sir, these are common factors in the life that we live outside! The first thing that you do when you want to get something done is to find who is whose relative and get the necessary roundabout connection!