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Devin Delgado

Prof. Kane

English 115

15 December, 2018

E1.2 Cooperation
Since the dawn of human civilization, humans have thrived off of working together to

achieve a common goal. Such an act of collaboration has often been necessary as a means to live

civilly under the crude threats that the world provides. Meanwhile people have set in place rules

with which to govern themselves, and these rules are generally followed by the public in their

society. The rules of most societies follow a basic consensus, in that cooperation is required to

run organizations that will enforce and create rules. However, people may disagree with one

another, depending on their point of view, and leave group tasks compromised and unfinished.

Everyone’s point of view in one shape or another is formed by their external experiences in the

world, which is why everyone does technically have a different point of view. This in turn brings

up the question, why and how are people able to work together productively? Despite mankind

able to view things differently through our five senses and potentially others, groups of people

are able to come together to interact productively together through assigning a general meaning

to certain things, using persuasive techniques, and out of the necessity of achieving the ultimate

goal of survival.

When no one can agree on the truth or the definition of a certain thing, the best way to

create a definition that everyone can believe in is to create a definition that generalizes the object

itself. This is notable in the excerpt of “Existence” from Oriental Philosophies, which explains

that the Hindus believe that “If one accepts universality as a basic characteristic of existence, it

becomes possible to say that even though there are many different dogs, and even though the
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species is evolving, what it is to be a dog does not change”(Koller 1). Most people can agree that

a canine like animal is a dog, and therefore everyone could work together on treating any dog

like one, in terms of a person’s intention. People could train the dog, feed the dog, walk the dog,

etc. This can be followed by most domestic animals like cats, horses, and even children. because

the common person knows these can be done with dogs. This kind of universality brings people’s

ideas together because it doesn’t reject other people’s ideas for the most part on what the animal

actually is.

Another attempt at having people work together is through the use of persuasion and

rhetorical appeals. People may appeal towards a person logically, emotionally, or through their

character, meaning that they have proven to be an expert in their field. Although some

individuals may not fulfill their promises or stay true to their word, through the art of persuasion,

one could temporarily or indefinitely gain traction as a public figure to follow. For instance,

Donald Trump had instituted a promise that a wall would be built between the U.S. and Mexican

border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country, however, “Not a single member

of Congress who represents the territory on the southwest border said they support President

Donald Trump's request for $1.4 billion to begin construction of his promised wall”(Jones). Even

though he still has not, and most likely won’t finish a wall along the Mexican border, his promise

brought new followers to his party. Through Trump’s words, he has essentially banded more

people together to join the Republican party by appealing to people and claiming that he will

solve an important American issue. Now that more, if not brand new people have joined the

Republican party, the party begins to graft the rest of its views onto its new followers, bringing

more people together than before. Within this, he could shift the views of the Republican party

simply because he now leads it, in the sense that he is the president of the United States.
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Although it may be an unethical form of bringing people together, persuasion and appealing

towards people’s individual desires helps strengthen one’s own party and gets people to agree

with each other.

Last but not least, people come together at best, when it their lives are on the line. During

World War 1, machine guns were the dominant use of force, as “A single machine gun with a

crew of no more than three could wipe out an entire battalion of men in three minutes”(Kokalis).

In this case, a hypothetical group of three men would be manning a machine gun in order to

protect themselves and their allies from their enemy that wants them dead. It is their shared will

for survival that all three of those men work together on that gun – to live. One must shoot the

gun, one must feed it ammunition, and one must cool the gun, which in turn leads to the

necessity of teamwork amongst one another. Cases like these however are very extreme, yet the

tactic in working together for survival has played an essential role in human history. For

example, the United States thrives off of multiple industries specializing in specific fields, in

which they are able to provide adequate goods and services that are necessary for a cycle of life

to flourish. An automobile manufacturer may make tractors for farmers, in which those farmers

need for their job. Then the farmers grow food and that food ends up in the hands of the workers

of the automobile manufacturers. This cycle is one of many that occur all around the globe, and

in numerous different scenarios, in which they all accomplish the same goal – to survive in a

harsh world.

Overall, people are able to come to the consensus that collaboration is necessary to get a

job done, whether it be for their own benefit or for another’s. Some may believe that they are

working for their own interest when under the effects of someone’s use of persuasion, even

though in hindsight what they’re doing may not benefit them. No matter the form of
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collaboration that is taking place, it occurs amongst every group of human beings nonetheless,

and it is important for us as responsible human beings to pay attention to what we desire in life

and what we are currently working for.

Works Cited

"Border Lawmakers Balk over Wall Request -- WSJ." Dow Jones Institutional News, 22 Apr.,

2017. ProQuest, libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.

csun.edu/docview/1890701401?accountid=7285.

Kokalis, Peter G. "The Light Machine Guns of World War I." Shotgun News, 20 Apr. 2015, p.
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22+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com.libproxy.csun.edu/apps/doc/A411196724/

ITOF?u=csunorthridge&sid=ITOF&xid=6544fdc1. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

Koller, John M. Oriental Philosophies. 2nd ed., Scribner, 1985.