Peter D. Kaufman

Reciprocation.

But not just any reciprocation, perfectly mirrored reciprocation.

Now we turn to biology.

And Peter references Mark Twain's observation that a man who picks up a cat by its tail will learn a lesson that he can learn in no other way.

And I don't recommend doing this.

Please just imagine it in your head.

But if you pick up a cat by its tail, it will undeniably scratch you.

If you treat the cat disagreeably, you get disagreeable back.

But if you were to gently pick up that same cat, stroke it, pet it, it will start licking your hand soon after.

Agreeable in is agreeable out.

So what is this?

This is mirrored reciprocation in action.

And next we can turn to the third bucket.

And Peter observes that your entire life, every interaction you've ever had with another being is merely mirrored reciprocation.

And I know you're probably thinking, it can't be this simple.

And Peter sort of anticipates this objection.

So he tells the audience, it is this simple.

It doesn't mean it's not sophisticated.

This is a very sophisticated model we just derived, isn't it?

We looked into the three largest sample sizes that exist, the three most relevant, and they all said exactly the same thing.