Do you think that the Western ideal of individualism has hurt us as a technoculture? I don't mean to say that because individualism exists that cooperation does not exist, but I do wonder if the emphasis on individual achievement is having an impact on the kinds of technological advancements we are making. This passage also made me wonder if there is any connection between China's collectivist ideals and their space program and also the state of the American space program.A lot of primatologists who study chimpanzees and bonobos often remark that “if only we could get the chimps to cooperate a little more, they would have a cultural revolution.” In fact, cooperation is something chimpanzees do… but they do it very poorly compared to modern humans. And it isn’t their fault. Chimpanzees are very good at being chimpanzees, they just aren’t very good at producing what I call the “new evolutions” which is the production of technoculture.