A shift in perspective is taking place among biologists and ecologists — a change in how we view the world that has significant implications for politicians, business leaders and all of us.

We tend to think of life as a process of competition and survival of the fittest. We think nature is “red in tooth and claw.” But it is not — or at least, it is not only that. Darwin was right, in part. As I argue in my new book “Togetherness,” competition is a fundamental process in nature, but cooperation and symbiosis are at least as important.

In Japan, this way of thinking has long been valued. Japanese society is often described as collectivist, emphasizing group harmony and consensus over individual preference. This emphasis is captured in the concept of wa, or harmony, which has long influenced Japanese social and cultural life.

In Japanese Buddhism, there is a phrase, jita funi, which literally means “self and other are not two.” It’s the idea that there is no spiritual or moral boundary between selves. In Japanese society, this can mean that individual needs are secondary to the needs of the group. Biology, however, is full of examples of jita funi — entities formed from two species in which the boundary is blurred and the whole is greater than the parts.

Look around you. Whatever living things you see are there because of symbiosis: flowers, mushrooms, fish, birds, trees, pets and other people. Symbiosis is fundamental to how life operates, how it began and how it evolved. If we do not understand that, we cannot develop a sustainable way of life.........

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