Re: How does one explain cooperation in a world where competition

[Steve Brant <trimtab@sprynet.com>]

Mike Woolbert <mawoolb@charter.net> writes:

> I think that if WED's ideas are going to be mainstream,  this notion of
> cooperation being communism needs to be dispelled.  Does anyone at the
> DEN know of a good article that deals with this misconception?

If someone says "Dr. Deming was a Communist", I would start by steering them
to the Oscar Award-winning motion picture "A Beautiful Mind" and the
"governing dynamics" work of John Nash which it portrays.  John Nash
received the Nobel Prize in mathematics, essentially, because he proved that
Adam Smith was wrong (well, "incomplete" is probably a better word to use).
Adam Smith said "In competition, individual ambition serves the common
good."  As portrayed in the restaurant scene in this film, John Nash has an
intellectual breakthrough when he and his friends try to figure out who will
get a date with the blond who arrives with her four brunette girlfriends.
Nash says, "Adam Smith is incomplete....The best result comes from everyone
doing what's best for themselves AND for the group."

The issue isn't politics (Capitalism vs. Communism).  It's
mathematics...systems optimization through an understanding of advanced
governing dynamics!

This scene is a wonderful example, by the way, of how Hollywood can teach
and entertain us at the same time!

-------------------------------------
Steven G. Brant, Business Futurist
Founder and Principal
Trimtab Management Systems
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