Reputation and Survival

Humans, more than any other creature, offer assistance based on indirect reciprocity, and reputation.

Humans have names for one another which allows us to share information about everyone from our immediate family members to complete strangers on the other side of the globe.

Morality is a matter of putting the group’s needs ahead of one’s own selfish interests. So when someone does the opposite, especially at another person’s expense, this individual’s reputation is shamed.

Ultimately, the human tendency to plant, trick, and manipulate social information by way of language enabled group sizes to become larger and larger, bettering the chances of survival for individual members (and hence their genes).

From “Finding Purpose In A Godless World”. Ralph Lewis. 2018.