Summary of “Nonzero” by

Robert Wright

Written by Alyssa Burnette

Learn about the driving forces of your destiny.

Introduction 5

Sharing is Caring 7

Humanity is Evolving 9

Social Evolution is Also the Result of Win-Win Situations 11

The Evolutionary Benefits of Technology 13

Final Summary 15


Introduction

Have you ever gazed up at the stars or at the vastness of the ocean and felt
small in comparison? Or have you ever reflected on theories like evolution
and the Big Bang and thought about how amazing it is that we evolved from
primordial ooze to reach the pinnacle of modern society? Or maybe you’ve
asked questions like, “What is my purpose?” and “What’s the meaning of
life?” And who hasn’t said something like, “It was fate!” or “Whatever is
meant to be will be.” Chances are, every human being has done at least
one-- if not all four-- of those things at some point in their life. But what if
we really knew the answers to these questions?

Robert Wright believes we can by learning more about non-zero-sum

interactions between humans and society. But although this explains the
book’s unusual title, you’re probably not familiar with non-zero-sum
interactions, so let’s take a closer look and learn more about what they
mean! Put simply, a non-zero-sum interaction can be summarized as a win-
win situation. And as we all know, win-win situations are those in which
two parties each get what they want, even if they want opposite things. For
example, let’s say that I want Chinese for dinner, but you want Italian. We
could fight about who most deserves to get what they want and arrive at a
solution in which only one of us gets our way… but this would be
categorized as a zero-sum game. In these situations-- where only one
person gets what they want-- it’s not a real win. The author explains that,
from an economic perspective, this doesn’t count as a win because the
results cancel each other out. Because if you add one person’s win to the
other person’s loss, the result is still zero.

But if, on the other hand, we compromise and pick up takeout from both
the Chinese and Italian restaurants, that would be a win-win situation
because it results in both of us getting what we want. Another example of a
win-win situation would be pretty much any (fair) business transaction. If
we imagine that I run an ice cream shop and you’re a person who wants ice
cream, then we have a win-win situation when you spend money at my
store and receive ice cream in return. Because I made a sale and you got
some delicious ice cream for a reasonable price, we both benefit from the
interaction and that’s why it counts as a non-zero-sum interaction.

So, why is that important? Well, according to Wright, it benefits society

when we collect more and more win-win situations throughout history.
That’s because we’re literally putting positive actions and mutually
beneficial transactions out into the world and creating a better society as a
result. And over the course of this summary, we’re going to learn about a
few key non-zero-sum interactions and the core principles behind them
that have driven human progress.
Sharing is Caring

We all heard that phrase in kindergarten, didn’t we? The simplistic rhyme
served to remind us that cooperation is a valuable skill and one which helps
us to be considerate of others. And as we’ve grown older, the value of
kindness, sharing, and connecting with others has been reiterated to us in a
variety of ways. As a result, our worldviews have been shaped by these
values; most of us would probably attest that we’re basically good people
who try to do the right thing. And this automatically influences our concept
of problem-solving as well. For example, when confronted with a problem,
most of us don’t approach an issue by saying, “How can I find a solution
that only benefits me?” or by intentionally thinking, “Who cares about the
other guy? I’m the only one that matters!”

Instead, most people work to compromise or find a solution that benefits

everyone. In fact, many people are even willing to sacrifice the solutions
that would be most beneficial to themselves in favor of doing a kind deed
for someone else. Put simply, whether we’re aware of it or not, most of us
are trying to find a win-win solution for everybody. And although it’s easy
to see how this would benefit the people we interact with and our society as
a whole, you might not know that this logic transcends human problem-
solving strategies. It didn’t originate in the boardroom or the classroom;
rather, this strategy is one of the foundational principles of life on Earth.
That’s because Earth started out with something of an “every man for
themselves” mentality in the form of single-celled organisms.

But once these individual cells gained enough sentience to develop a form
of self-awareness, they were able to communicate with each other (in the
way of nonverbal, single-celled biological things) and they recognized that
sharing really is caring. Or, put simply, to connect with other cells was to
further their own self-interests. If one cell shared its resources with another
and a few more cells responded in kind, they could create a powerful
collective with more strength than any one cell possessed on its own. And
that’s how we get the variety of complex multi-celled organisms that we
have today! So, as you can see, the idea of collaborating to achieve a win-
win situation is by no means a human invention. In fact, it occurred to
nonverbal single-celled life forms before the idea ever struck us! This, of
course, should tell us two things: firstly, that non-zero-sum interactions are
vital for the survival of all living things. And secondly, if
Single-celled life forms can do it, we definitely can!
Humanity is Evolving

At first glance, that statement might seem like something of a no-brainer.

We have only to look back through history-- including very recent history--
to find immediate examples of human evolution in terms of social, cultural,
and historical milestones! We already know that humans are constantly
evolving. But for the purpose of this chapter, we’re going to slow down and
really consider that fact for just a moment. Humans are constantly
evolving! When you truly pause to think about it, that’s incredible, isn’t it?
It’s incredible that we evolved from the days of neanderthals-- barely
speaking, no concept of a written language, still marvelling at the existence
of fire-- to the people we are today.

And if you find yourself suddenly wondering how we got here, then-- you
guessed it!-- it’s all because of non-zero-sum interactions! Just like the
single-cell organisms we discussed in the previous chapter, human
civilization evolved as people realized that it was smarter and more
advantageous to join together and pool their resources. And as a result, we
developed the ability to buy and sell, to establish businesses, to organize
armies and defense systems. By connecting with each other, we
orchestrated systems of government, travel, and trade. This also helped us
develop languages and put our words into a standardized system of writing
that everyone could learn! And although it might have been overly
simplistic in the early days, with towns being named after the king who ran
them, or streets with labels like “First Street,” we were evolving. (And it gets
even more impressive when we consider that these “simplistic,” primitive
societies also built the Seven Wonders of the World, like the pyramids and
the Acropolis!)

And as we all know, we’ve only continued to evolve, growing beyond the age
of simplicity to create advances in science and technology that only existed
in our ancestors’ wildest dreams. Although they might never have imagined
the day would come, we now possess the ability to access any information
we want, any time we want it, and all on a device so small it can fit in our
pockets! If you really stop to think about it, that’s amazing!

These observations have motivated the author to speculate about the

advances we can expect in the future as humanity continues to evolve. One
possibility he suggests is that we might eventually evolve to form a new type
of cohesive global unit. For example, if our evolution began with single-cell
organisms uniting with one another, to human beings connecting to form
civilizations, what’s next? Is it possible we might one day develop humanity
into a sort of singular collective, one which unites us even more? Would we
perhaps integrate the human brain and the internet so that we developed
new ways of uploading and sharing information directly from person to
person instead of relying on devices? What if we were to evolve into one
sort of united world brain, shared by everyone? What would that look like?
Can you imagine doing that-- or is it as mind-boggling to you as our
iPhones might have been to the ancient Egyptians?
Social Evolution is Also the Result of Win-Win
Situations

So far, we’ve already talked about biological evolution and historical

evolution, but what about the ways in which we’ve grown socially? How did
we get from nonverbal organisms to a society with complex relationships?
The author affirms that this is also the result of non-zero-sum interactions.
That makes a lot of sense because if you’ve ever dated a narcissistic or
overly selfish person, you already know that relationships don’t go very well
if one person is doing all the emotional labor. So, how did we evolve to
develop mutually beneficial relationships? And how do we know when our
relations with others are appropriately evolved?

To give an example of a successful relationship model, the author cites the

story of an African tribe who operates under a blanket policy that they
share everything with each other. So, whenever they hunt for food, they
share any meat they catch-- not just between one family, but between the
entire tribe. Why? Because, like those early societies and simplistic
organisms. they’ve realized that banding together furthers the survival of
the entire group. They also understand that no one can truly win at life on
their own; you need a support system to strengthen you and get you
through. And when you share resources and support each other, you’re
acknowledging that. It’s also a kind and unselfish way of acknowledging
that one day, you might need help from someone else and that you’re
prepared to give to them as you would hope they’d give to you.

And even though you probably don’t invite your neighbors or your entire
family to split a single burger with you when you go out to eat, societies
show cooperation in different ways. For example, the American economy
works closely with the economies of many other nations to create a sort of
global trade system that relies on mutual dependence. Unsurprisingly, this
is an incredibly risky system because it means that the livelihoods of
multiple countries rely on each other. And as a result, if those relationships
weaken or break down completely, entire countries might collapse.
So, while this system comes with plenty of risks, the danger can also be
considered positive in that-- much like the African tribe referenced earlier--
it encourages mutual trust and collaboration. Just as the members of the
aforementioned tribe recognize that they might one day fall on hard times
and would depend on their neighbors for support, so entire countries are
forced to recognize that they need each other to survive. This then increases
positive relationships and strong trade agreements between nations who
might not have gotten along under different circumstances.

It also encourages our societies and relationships to evolve in ways that we

might not develop without this push. For example, because our global
social, political, and economic structures are hinged on mutual
dependence, we have to find new ways of working together and navigating
conflicts. We set up different departments, for example, create new policies,
and learn new strategies for conflict resolution. We learn to work in teams,
to make sacrifices so that everybody on our team can win, and we make
decisions based on the greater good. And last, but certainly not least, we’ve
learned to incorporate tolerance of cultural differences and broaden our
perspectives so that we can be accepting of those who are different from us.
The Evolutionary Benefits of Technology

It’s no surprise that technology has been one of the biggest assets of the
modern age when it comes to collaboration. Thanks to advances in modern
technology, we can find long-lost relatives on the internet, learn via Zoom
or Skype calls, and stay connected with friends through social media. We
can access live news, share things as they happen, and stream unlimited
content all with a tap of our fingertips. But in addition to the social benefits
of technology, it has also proved highly beneficial in advancing our cultural
evolution. Problems that would have been considered unsolvable in the age
of the ancient Greeks are now easily resolved with the aid of modern
technology.

For example, let’s imagine that you’re a local artist. Maybe you paint
jewelry or make earrings or design your own line of greeting cards. And
after years of creating a deeply personal business, pouring love into each
item and selling it out of your home, you’re now hoping to expand your
reach by selling your creations in a local superstore. You’ve made an
agreement with the store’s manager; she says you can sell your crafts. She’s
also agreed to give you a fair portion of the profits in exchange for being
allowed to keep her cut. You’re both happy with this mutually beneficial
arrangement because you get to sell your crafts and get publicity and she
benefits from the increased revenue and exposure that comes from a
collaboration with a local artist. All in all, it’s another win-win and your life
is about to progress in an exciting new direction!

Unfortunately, however, there are a couple of obstacles that might get in

your way. First of all, what if the manager doesn’t honor her word? What if
your crafts start flying off the shelves and she decides to keep all of the
profits for herself? Or what if she just doesn’t put your goods on display at
all? How would you confront her? How would you prove that she stole from
you? And how can you be sure that you have a solid case when you’re not at
the store all the time and can’t see everything she’s doing? And if you
wanted to make things even more complicated, let’s imagine that the
manager speaks a different language and is frequently out of the country,
making communication barriers even trickier!

To early shopkeepers in ancient times, these might have seemed like

impossible hurdles. So impossible, in fact, that it might have seemed wiser
to avoid expanding your business altogether. But thanks to the advent of
modern technology, these problems can be simple blips on your radar!
Today, we have security cameras, payroll software, collaborative apps, and
instant messaging. We can learn enough about another language to easily
communicate with someone and we can connect virtually across different
time zones. All of these assets make it easier to work together, even in the
face of challenges, which means that you can collaborate with peace of
mind and easy access to conflict resolution solutions. None of this
integration would be possible without collaboration and mutual
dependence. And none of that would be possible without non-zero-sum
interactions!
Final Summary

Human existence is complicated and it motivates us to ask a lot of hard

questions like, “What is life’s purpose?” and “Does fate direct our lives?”
However, the author acknowledges that our lives aren’t so much directed by
the unseen and whimsical hands of fate as by the principle of non-zero-sum
interactions. This principle of collaboration has actually been at the heart of
life on Earth for longer than humans have even existed and it continues to
guide our everyday lives. As a result, Wright posits that not only does this
win-win system propel human beings toward positive evolution, it also
suggests that our existence does have meaning.

Because although humanity has been set back by terrible tragedies and
miscarriages of justice along the way, the world is often balanced by an
overwhelming amount of goodness. This goodness is what motivates us to
connect, collaborate, and share. And those principles are ultimately what
drives our evolution. This tells us that our purpose is to connect with one
another and work together to achieve positive change. And if you don’t
believe me, just look at how many times we sacrifice for someone else’s
good, give selflessly, or perform a random act of kindness. This proves that
there truly is good in the world and that achieving win-win situations is our
purpose.