Survival of the Friendliest?

Evolutionary scientists speculate
on the origins of cooperation in
resource-scarce conditions
during the Middle Stone Age

How Collaborative Conduct Emerged: An Evolutionary Game Theory Tale

by Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds

In an astounding fashion, evolutionary scientists have ventured into deducing the evolution of moral traits such as cooperation, positing that resource-constrained environments in the Middle Stone Age led to the evolution of such traits for strategy purposes.

Thinking as a Darwinian

This perspective was published in the journal PLOS Complex Systems in April 2025. In direct contrast to prevailing evolutionary-based theories — such as the Malthusian theory that hypothesizes conflicts and death as natural consequences of resource scarcity — Masaaki Inaba and Eizo Akiyama claim to have simulated evidence that environmental variability and consequent resource variability may have driven the evolution of cooperative traits in the Middle Stone Age.

The authors used the Variability Selection Hypothesis (VSH) as a framework, which posits that humans evolved both physical and behavioral traits through adapting to environmental changes. They modeled human behaviour using three probabilistic scenarios, which varied the overall volume and distribution of food resources and predicted the likelihood of cooperation.

Images by Grok

They found that human cooperation would be more likely in scenarios where resource distribution shifts. They declare that “this study proposes a novel causal link between EV [Environmental Variability] and the evolution of cooperation, potentially setting a new direction for theoretical and empirical research in this field.”

But is morality by selection and mutation really feasible?

The Evolutionary Ethics Paradox: Why Morality Defies Natural Selection

Some evolutionary authors make the claim that evolutionary theory is not concerned with emergence and origins but rather focuses on processes. However, the current article underscores the glaring question that remains in evolutionary theory: the appearance or origin of a coherent moral code across cultures.

The authors attempt to connect human trait emergence as an important part of the grand evolutionary story, referencing distinct periods from evolutionary history as the origins of human behavioral traits. Quoting from the article, the authors assert:

Deepening our understanding of the evolutionary origins of modern human behavior is essential for comprehending the nature of humanity and society. In anthropology and archaeology, “modern human behavior” refers to traits unique to or primarily associated with Homo sapiens, marked by abstract thinking, symbolic expression, complex planning, and ultrasociality. These behaviors include language, religion, mythology, art, music, entertainment, humor, altruism, long-distance trade, and the creation of intergroup networks. Numerous studies concur that these behavioral patterns emerged during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in Africa. While there is broad consensus on when and where these behaviors originated, the mechanisms driving their emergence remain enigmatic, despite various proposed theories.

Religion by evolution? Or evolution by the rejection of God’s Word?

Faithful to the evolutionary ‘just-so’ story strategy, the authors assert that not only cooperation, but “…. language, religion, mythology, art, music, entertainment, humor, altruism, long-distance trade, and the creation of intergroup networks…” somehow just “emerged”. Even more curious is the intrinsic admission that these traits are generally universal, comprising the “nature of humanity and society”.

Random Material Universals?

In a framework that relies on randomness, how could blind evolution and survival scenarios consistently give rise to (x) the same responses worldwide that define the general nature of humanity and society? An even more striking conundrum is the attempt to unify immaterial traits within a framework that originated to explain the world in terms of the material.

Even more so, given the intent of individual survival, how could evolution incentivize collaborative action? Concepts such as ‘altruism’ appear in historically isolated civilizations, directly conflicting with self-preservation. How do the authors account for these stark contradictions?

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Not only do the authors claim to have found that environmental variability (EV) led to the evolution of cooperative traits, but they attribute “improvement in human cognitive abilities to severe EV”. But, like many evolutionary scenarios, this brings up the problem of the chicken and the egg. In order to survive, wouldn’t individuals already need a certain level of cognitive ability to adapt to environmental variability in the first place? How do the authors also account for cognitive abilities and collaborative ethics that persist across cultures, regardless of environmental conditions? If severe EV were the main catalyst, then populations in historically stable environments should exhibit weaker cognitive capacities, but this is not observed.

‘Stone Age’ Morality Was Written on the Tablets of Human Hearts from the Beginning

While morality remains an enigma to evolutionary anthropologists, the Bible presents a coherent framework for understanding ‘personable’ traits such as cooperation. Morality that is personable and selfless reflects the selflessness of a Sovereign Personal Being: God, the Father.

These intangible traits are fundamental to the thriving of humanity and counteract the fundamental tenets of competitive survival: widespread death and destruction necessary for evolutionary advancement. Standing in contrast to evolutionary theory, the presence of sacrificial love reflected across cultures beyond the ‘Stone Age’ remains as a clear testament to the existence of a benevolent God.

In the Bible, our Creator invites us to be transformed and have Him write on the tablets of our hearts. May we heed His beautiful promise for a more cooperative world under His control, as Jeremiah 31:33 states:

 “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.
And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds is a Christian, Jamaican, Environmental Science researcher, and journal associate editor. She holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona with high commendation, and a postgraduate specialization in Geomatics at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. The quality of her research activity in Environmental Science has been recognized by various awards including the 2024 Editor’s Award from the American Meteorological Society for her reviewing service in the Weather, Climate and Society Journal, the 2023 L’Oreal/UNESCO Women in Science Caribbean Award, the 2023 ICETEX International Experts Exchange Award for study in Colombia. and with her PhD research in drought management also being shortlisted in the top 10 globally for the 2023 Allianz Climate Risk Award by Munich Re Insurance, Germany. Motivated by her faith in God and zeal to positively influence society, Dr. Buckland-Reynolds is also the founder and Principal Director of Chosen to G.L.O.W. Ministries, a Jamaican charitable organization which seeks to amplify the Christian voice in the public sphere and equip more youths to know how to defend their faith.