ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at two forms of cooperation, mutualism and reciprocity, to gain a better understanding of the ways in which reconciliation and conflict resolution operate as the law of the jungle. It refers to intra-group aggression, because obviously what happens between groups is different. Nevertheless, if we call natural selection the "law of the jungle", this law has produced tendencies that counter overly destructive tendencies. There is a general perception of nature as a place of competition, a place of struggle for life, which is the cardboard version of Darwin's view. If one reads The Descent of Man, however, it is clear that Darwin allowed for tendencies other than competitive ones. The chapter turns to an organism that is quite a bit smarter than pelicans and quite a bit closer to the people: the chimpanzee. The chimpanzee is genetically almost identical to the people. Chimpanzee society is very intensive and dynamic, and it is in that sort of context that reconciliation takes place.
