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imagine these are a group of lions.
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And cooperating means cooperating on the hunt,
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it means using a lot of energy going after
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as you cooperate in a group while hunting.
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And defecting here would mean not working hard on the hunt
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and letting the other lions catch the antelope or whatever,
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and then just sharing in the spoils: so "free riding" basically.
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Or another example, think about ants with an ant nest,
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imagine this ant nest has been attacked by
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I don't know what, some other creature.
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You could imagine that cooperating is joining in, in defending the nest,
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at the risk of being hurt