News from the world of maths: Trust me, I've evolved

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Why are some people generous and others selfish? There's no doubt that both strategies pay off under certain circumstances, but research (as well as everyday experience) shows that we are not mere opportunists — some people simply are nicer than others. This raises a question which intrigues evolutionary psychologists: is there a selective force that works in favour of a wide range of personalities, preventing us from all evolving the same optimal character trait? A possible answer has recently been published by mathematicians from the universities of Bristol and Exeter.

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posted by Plus @ 11:44 AM

2 Comments:

At 8:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can the people who did this research be trusted? How can we be sure they are not motivated by selfish reasons?

 
At 5:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

this seems to be simply a re hash of robert axelrod's theory of co operation??
i dont see anything new