The Evolution Of Cooperation Edge Master Class 2011 | Conversation | Edge - 0 views
-
In this beautiful book by Ernst Mayr, What Evolution Is, he points out very elegantly, loosely speaking, ‘we talk about the evolution of genes, the evolution of species, the evolution of the brain, but none of these things actually carry the evolutionary process. The only thing that really evolves are populations.’
-
There is one thing that I have learned in my studies of cooperation over the last 20 years: there is no equilibrium. There is never a stable equilibrium. Cooperation is always being destroyed and has to be rebuilt. How much time you spend on average in a cooperative state depends on how quickly you can rebuild it. The most important aspect is really how quickly you can get away from the Always defect again.
-
What is very important for efficient indirect reciprocity is language. Indirect reciprocity leads to the evolution of social intelligence and human language. In order to evaluate the situation, you have to understand who does what to whom and why. And we have to have a way to talk about what happened, to gain experience from others.
- ...10 more annotations...
-
Why has cooperation, not competition, always been the key to the evolution of complexity? MARTIN NOWAK is a Mathematical Biologist, Game Theorist; Professor of Biology and Mathematics, Director, Center for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University; Coauthor (with Roger Highfield), SuperCooperators: Altruism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed. Martin Nowak's Edge Bio Page In July, Edge held its annual Master Class in Napa, California on the theme: "The Science of Human Nature". In the six week period that began September 12th, we are publishing the complete video, audio, and texts: Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman on the marvels and the flaws of intuitive thinking; Harvard mathematical biologist Martin Nowak on the evolution of cooperation; UC-Santa Barbara evolutionary psychologist Leda Cosmides on the architecture of motivation; Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker on the history of violence; UC-Santa Barbara neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga on neuroscience and the law; and Princeton religious historian Elaine Pagels on The Book of Revelations. For publication schedule and details, go to Edge Master Class 2011: The Science of Human Nature.
-
Transcript of fabulous presentation on the evolution of cooperation with great Q&A at the end.