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Scientific American “Why We Help”
The July issue of Scientific American features a cover story written by Martin A. Nowak called “Why We Help“. This very short article contains a brief review of Nowak’s “five rules” for cooperation, a...
View ArticleFamiliarity breeds… mutual aid (at least in some birds)
Biology Letters “Long-term familiarity promotes joining in neighbour nest defence“
View ArticleWasps can recognize each other, by face
Science “Specialized Face Learning Is Associated with Individual Recognition in Paper Wasps“
View ArticleCall it “ethnocentrism” or the “green beard effect”, “tags” assist cooperation
Theory, Evolution, and Games Group “Evolution of ethnocentrism in the Hammond and Axelrod model“
View ArticleExperimental study of cooperation and population structure calls into...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “Heterogeneous networks do not promote cooperation when humans play a Prisoner’s Dilemma“
View ArticlePunishment, properly rewarded, can promote cooperation without corruption
Public Library of Science ONE “Evolving Righteousness in a Corrupt World” In the race to build the next over-simplified model of cooperative dynamics, it will be interesting to see how the media runs...
View ArticleLack of complete transparency presents an obstacle but not a block to...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “Evolution of cooperation and skew under imperfect information“
View ArticleCan playing games make the world a better place?
One of the very talented students I work with in the Envirolutions club, Rhett Bradbury, pointed me towards the work of Jane McGonigal, a game designer and evangelist for the idea that games can save...
View ArticleEnforcing norms may be for personal gain, not to maintain social order (at...
PLoS ONE “What Are Punishment and Reputation for?” Once again, a valuable and ingenious experiment over-reaches on the meaning of its finding, and the over-reach bleeds into the popular media. This is...
View ArticleCan neuroeconomics help economics become a real science?
The Chronicle of Higher Education “The Marketplace in Your Brain” I think that this article suggests that much of economics is not much of a science. Faced with new information, mainstream economics...
View ArticleMegan Frederickson shares the wonder of ant cooperation with Toronto Library...
Toronto Public Library/University of Toronto Exploring Evolution series “The Evolution of Cooperation: Ant-Plant Associations in Peru” We need more scientists out there explaining the wonders of...
View ArticleMaking the formation of social networks more realistic also makes them more...
Physical Review E “Building cooperative networks“
View ArticleThe benefits of a maintaining a relatively small in-group
WNYC Micropolis “Hasidic Supermarkets and the Virtues of Insularity” Although I think that this is an interesting little feature, it mistakenly attributes the benefits of this trust to a lack of...
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My review of “Origins of Altruism and Cooperation” is published in QRB
I am excited to report that my review of Origins of Altruism and Cooperation was just published in the Quarterly Review of Biology. Although it requires some work to get through, this collection...
View ArticleAn anecdote that illustrates the tremendous power of human network reciprocity
NPR Morning Edition StoryCorps “How One Man Continues To ‘Just Pass It On’” The story of this man’s life and how he has reacted to the kindness of a stranger nicely encapsulates the very powerful...
View ArticleDoes self organization of social networks foster cooperation in the face of...
Web Information Systems Engineering – WISE 2013 “A Study on the Evolution of Cooperation in Networks“
View ArticleModel evidence that third party punishment only makes sense in tight-knit groups
Proceedings of the Royal Society B “High strength-of-ties and low mobility enable the evolution of third-party punishment“
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Do humans form genetically similar social groups independent of kinship?
Proponents of kin selection as the most parsimonious explanation of how cooperation evolves face a problem when it comes to humans: counter to the predictions of kin selection theory, humans aim a fair...
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Review of What We Made by Tom Finkelpearl
I study cooperation. I can say this honestly only with some caveats. I am very interested in what allows cooperation to evolve in biological systems, as cooperation seems to defy the Darwinian...
View ArticleMalcolm Gladwell on the social contagion of mass shootings
National Public Radio Morning Edition “How Riots May Help Us Understand School Shooters” This is a great example of how understanding our cultural evolution, and how we have evolved to live...
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