Dr. Jamil Zaki

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

Would you like to share some of it with another person? And they found that when they start in their careers, lake fishermen and ocean fishermen were equally trusting and equally trustworthy as well. but over the course of their careers, they diverged. Being in a collaborative environment where people must count on one another to survive made people over time more trusting and more trustworthy.

Would you like to share some of it with another person? And they found that when they start in their careers, lake fishermen and ocean fishermen were equally trusting and equally trustworthy as well. but over the course of their careers, they diverged. Being in a collaborative environment where people must count on one another to survive made people over time more trusting and more trustworthy.

Would you like to share some of it with another person? And they found that when they start in their careers, lake fishermen and ocean fishermen were equally trusting and equally trustworthy as well. but over the course of their careers, they diverged. Being in a collaborative environment where people must count on one another to survive made people over time more trusting and more trustworthy.

Being in a competitive zero-sum environment over time made people less trusting and less trustworthy. Now, one thing that always amazes me about this work is that people in both of these environments are right. If you're in a competitive environment, you don't trust and you're right to not trust. if you're in a collaborative environment, you do trust and you're right to trust.

Being in a competitive zero-sum environment over time made people less trusting and less trustworthy. Now, one thing that always amazes me about this work is that people in both of these environments are right. If you're in a competitive environment, you don't trust and you're right to not trust. if you're in a collaborative environment, you do trust and you're right to trust.

Being in a competitive zero-sum environment over time made people less trusting and less trustworthy. Now, one thing that always amazes me about this work is that people in both of these environments are right. If you're in a competitive environment, you don't trust and you're right to not trust. if you're in a collaborative environment, you do trust and you're right to trust.

And this is from the point of view of economic games and I think much broadly construed as well. So one question then becomes, well, which of these environments do we want to be in, right? I think the costs in terms of wellbeing and relationships is quite obvious if you're in a competitive environment.

And this is from the point of view of economic games and I think much broadly construed as well. So one question then becomes, well, which of these environments do we want to be in, right? I think the costs in terms of wellbeing and relationships is quite obvious if you're in a competitive environment.

And this is from the point of view of economic games and I think much broadly construed as well. So one question then becomes, well, which of these environments do we want to be in, right? I think the costs in terms of wellbeing and relationships is quite obvious if you're in a competitive environment.

And then the second question of course is, how do we put ourselves in the type of environment that we want, knowing that that environment will change who we are over the course of our lives?

And then the second question of course is, how do we put ourselves in the type of environment that we want, knowing that that environment will change who we are over the course of our lives?

And then the second question of course is, how do we put ourselves in the type of environment that we want, knowing that that environment will change who we are over the course of our lives?

Yeah, this is a great perspective. And a couple of things I want to be clear on. One, I am not here to judge or impugn cynics. I should confess that I myself struggle with cynicism and have for my entire life. Part of my journey to learn more about it and even to write this book was an attempt to understand myself and to see if it is possible to unlearn cynicism Because frankly, I wanted to.

Yeah, this is a great perspective. And a couple of things I want to be clear on. One, I am not here to judge or impugn cynics. I should confess that I myself struggle with cynicism and have for my entire life. Part of my journey to learn more about it and even to write this book was an attempt to understand myself and to see if it is possible to unlearn cynicism Because frankly, I wanted to.

Yeah, this is a great perspective. And a couple of things I want to be clear on. One, I am not here to judge or impugn cynics. I should confess that I myself struggle with cynicism and have for my entire life. Part of my journey to learn more about it and even to write this book was an attempt to understand myself and to see if it is possible to unlearn cynicism Because frankly, I wanted to.

So you will get no judgment from me of people who feel like it's hard to trust. I think that another point that you're bringing out that I want to co-sign is that saying that Competition over the long term, zero-sum competition can erode our trust, isn't the same as saying that we should never compete. Competition is beautiful.

So you will get no judgment from me of people who feel like it's hard to trust. I think that another point that you're bringing out that I want to co-sign is that saying that Competition over the long term, zero-sum competition can erode our trust, isn't the same as saying that we should never compete. Competition is beautiful.