Cooperation

If there's one thing we American's love, it's a health fad. Whether it's the paleo diet, cross-fit, vitamin supplements or hot-yoga, we gravitate towards just about anything that promises us improved health and well-being. And why shouldn't we? Health is wealth, after all. But what if, despite all of our focus on healthy eating habits and active lifestyles, we were failing to address one of the major health-destroying aspects of modern life? What if all of our work to reduce environmental pollutants and combat unhealthy habits were being undercut by or our failure to address a much more fundamental hazard? New research into the determinants of primate and human health provides strong evidence that this may well be the case. Scientists studying African baboons and UK civil servants have come to the same conclusion, and their results are startling – and startlingly under-reported. What is this neglected risk to our health, this invisible plague that diminishes both our quality and length of life? In a word: Hierarchy. We now know with certainty that rigid hierarchies are bad for the health of everyone in them – except those at the very top. But there’s good news too: according to the World Health Organization, cooperative values and cooperative action are the prescription for combatting these negative effects.