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Devin Delgado

Prof. Kane

English 115

October 2, 2018

E1.1 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

on which to govern themselves on, and they are generally followed by the public in their society.

Which in turn brings the question, why and how are people able to work together productively?

People may disagree with one another depending on their point of view, and leave the task

uncompromised. Despite mankind able to view things differently through our five senses and

potential 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

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, whereas 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 species is

evolving, what it is to be a dog does not change”(Koller 1). Most people can agree upon that a

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

one. People could train the dog, feed the dog, walk the dog, and etc. because the common person

knows these can be done with dogs. This kind of universality brings people together because it
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doesn’t reject other people’s beliefs on what the animal actually is for the most part.

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

rhetorical appeals. Although some 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, and most likely won’t finish a wall around the

Mexican border, his promise brought new followers to his party that are still reminiscent during

his presidency. Through Trump’s words, he has essentially banded more people together to join

the Republican party by appealing to people’s desires. Now that those who have seen their desire

considered have joined the Republican party, the party begins to stem the rest of its views onto

its new followers, bringing more people together than before. Although it may be an unethical

form of bringing people together, persuasion and appealing towards people’s individual desires

helps strengthen your own party and gets people to agree with each other.

Last but not least, people come together 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 from their enemy that want them dead. It is their shared will for survival that all three

of those men work together on that gun to all get what they want. One must shoot the gun, one

must feed it ammunition, and one must cool the gun, which in turn leads to the necessity of
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teamwork amongst one another.

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

job done, whether it be for their 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 collaboration that is

taking place, it occurs amongst every human being 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, Apr 22,

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

com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1890701401?accountid=7285.
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Kokalis, Peter G. "The light machine guns of World War I." Shotgun News, 20 Apr. 2015, p.

22+.

General OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.csun.edu/apps/doc/A411196724/ITOF?u=csunorthridg

e&sid=ITOF&xid=6544fdc1. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

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