#bwindi

Beat them Or Cooperate With Them?

The organism already fights to live; the illusion is that the conscious story about it is the driver.

For Arthur Schopenhauer, the uncomfortable part is that people like to believe they can redesign themselves at will. His claim was that the core structure of a person is far more stable than we want to admit. That undermines the popular idea that with the right intention or philosophy anyone can become almost anything. The disappointment lies there, not in accusing humanity of universal dishonesty.

From a biological perspective this idea has some basis. Organisms behave in ways that increase the probability that their genes continue. This is why evolutionary theory, especially after Charles Darwin, explains many traits in terms of competition, adaptation, and resource limits. However, human survival is not primarily an individual competition against eight billion rivals. Humans survive through cooperative systems, creating agriculture, infrastructure, trade, medicine, social coordination. If every individual tried to maximize survival by treating everyone else purely as competitors, the system that keeps people alive would collapse. Historically and biologically, groups that cooperate effectively tend to outlast groups that cannot coordinate. So the real structure is mixed, competition exists, but large-scale survival depends heavily on cooperation.

This means survival for humans is not simply beating others. A more accurate description is that humans evolved in conditions where both forces operate simultaneously. The brain carries mechanisms for rivalry, but also mechanisms for trust, alliance-building, and long-term coordination. Your survival today depends far more on the stability of systems you did not build than on defeating other individuals.

Schopenhauer would actually say something even more unsettling here. The drive to survive is not a rational law you consciously adopt. It is already built into the organism. You do not wake up and decide to maintain your metabolism or repair tissue damage. The organism runs that process automatically. So when someone declares survival as their law, they are usually just describing what the biological system is already doing without asking permission. If you assume everyone is mainly a competitor, your behavior toward them will change, and that can create the very environment you are expecting. In complex societies, perception of others often shapes outcomes more than raw competition does.

I hiked through the dense, muddy trails of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and came face-to-face with a mountain gorilla. Unreal. One hour with a wild gorilla family, and I swear time stood still.

The trek is tough (think jungle gym meets stairmaster), but totally worth it. Watching a silverback munch leaves while babies wrestle nearby? Once-in-a-lifetime.

Uganda, you stunned me. 🖤

4 minutes Erebero Hills- Suite side view © Asilia For over two decades, Asilia Africa has been at the forefront of eco-tourism in East Africa, combining conservation with luxury travel. Their latest endeavor in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest marks a bold new chapter in their mission to protect vital ecosystems while uplifting local communities. With the introduction of Erebero Hills, a…

Harri's Wildlife & Travel Photography // Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda // September 2021