Mutualism: Learning from an Unusual Teacher

I ran across a story I wrote down a while back. At the time, my heart was heavy over the loss of life in the Iraq War. "We don't talk about much with friends anymore --- it's a pretty dark and shameful reality most people want to ignore," I wrote.

"It is interesting how the we so easily point our fingers at others who kill, but the major collateral deaths we cause are not even acknowledged."  I went on to tell a moving story that came out of Nairobi, Kenya --- a story about mutualistic love. In my book, Putting Our Differences to Work, one of the qualities of leadership I discuss is "Making Mutualism the final arbiter." Imagine a dog being a role model:

NAIROBI, Kenya - Witnesses say a dog with puppies saved the life of an abandoned newborn baby in Kenya. They say the dog found the child wrapped in a plastic bag in the forest near the capital of Nairobi. It then carried her across a busy road and through a barbed wire fence before dropping the baby among its litter of puppies. The baby is now in good condition in the hospital. Doctors say the dog didn't hurt the baby because it used the plastic bag to carry her. Associated Press.
Click on the picture to see bigger image.

WAS THIS MUTUALISM?
When I forwarded the story to a friend who has studied mutualism, he wrote: "It's a beautiful story, but I am not sure it is mutualism. We know the baby benefited, but how did the dog benefit? This could be pure altruism instead." Hmmmm! This made me think. Then I responded:

I wonder if mutualism is more of a complex system of goodness? The baby provided body heat to help keep the dog's puppies warm while it searched for food and also helped the dog fulfill its Divine Purpose of saving the life, which provided us all with a valuable lesson and example with which to examine our own behavior. The dog was the bridge that connected the baby to life and the world. Everyone benefited from this interconnection and no one was harmed. This is mutualism at it's best, yes?

What do you think?
What lessons do you see in this story that we could take away?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work

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