tic tac toe (cigno5!/flickr)
In our episode The Good Show, we wrestle with the question of whether natural selection inherently favors selfish behavior. Is the process of evolutionary competion cruel, or does it sometimes pay to be nice?
One way to approach this question is to consider a scenario known as the prisoner's dilemma--a problem in game theory that illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of cooperation. In the final section of The Good Show, Jad and Robert take a stab at the prisoner's dilemma, and ask whether there are circumstances in which even selfish people are inclined to work together. Listen to "One Good Deed Deserves Another" here. And if you want to test your own strategic mettle, we ran across an online version of the prisoner's dilemma.
Comments [3]
The energy "prisoner's dilemma".
All Nations need to decrease energy use. Going first (cooperating) is an economic disadvantage. Increasing energy use (defecting) gives you a short term economic advantage. How will cooperation become the equilibrium?
The link seems to be broken... :/
It seemed like most of the situations presented are situations in which people are equal, or on the same playing field so to speak. What about when there is inequality between people, how then does selfishness benefit? Or where there is not enough to go around, how does evolutionary competition play a role? If there is no niceness to begin with, why should it ever evolve?
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.