Group Dynamics
Acquiring Resources
We all share our environment with other people of which most are seeking resources to ensure their survival. The distribution of these resources influences the kinds of relationships we establish with other people, in other words, our social organization. This organization could be viewed as a sophisticated way of acquiring resources.
In the Stone Age, when game was scarce, our ancestors quickly learned that cooperation and mutual assistance could increase their chances of a successful hunt. In tropical regions, however, resources were so abundant that societies evolved without need for competition. Before contact with Europeans, many native American tribes and South Pacific islanders did not know what private property meant.
As resources become limited, the likelihood of competition becomes greater. This was the case in the temperate regions where most of the world’s civilizations developed. Thus, mutual assistance and competition often co-exist and shape our social relations simultaneously. Whenever there is competition for resources, there are inevitably winners and losers, which inevitably lead to social hierarchies.
