Women in viral Pittsburgh Marathon photo encouraged each other to finish the race

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16. That's cool. I'll do your preaching for you.

In Anthropology we debated the competition vs. cooperation thing. Yes, nature can be harsh and there is a certain logic to "survival of the fittest."

However, when it comes to our species, we are soft, hairless, slow meals on two legs with hardly any teeth or claws to defend ourselves. Cooperation is our saving grace. No individual human is equipped to handle nature alone. Even those hermit types that you hear about building cabins in the woods usually make use of tools that other people made, and knowledge and skills that other people imparted to them.

Even the most independent person in the world is utterly dependent on a complicated nexus of social ties and shared industry. We need each other. We always have, and we always will. One of the most important lessons that progressive people have to communicate with the world is that there is no "other" anymore. It's just us here on Planet Earth. We need to find balance within ourselves, with our fellow human beings and with nature if we are going to survive this century.