The Evolution of Cooperation
Observing Cooperation Phenomena
Cooperation is a behavior that can occur in a variety of situations, whether it be in the natural world or in human society. In this article, we will explore the evolution of cooperation through a formal, game theoretical analysis.
In biology, cooperation can be observed in a variety of fields such as prebiotic evolution (Eigen’s hypercycle), evolutionary biology (genetic relatedness theory, reciprocal altruism), microbiology (cooperation among bacteria, parasite-host relationships), and behavioral research (from single-celled organisms to primate groups).
In human society, cooperation can be seen in the fields of philosophy (Darwinism in nature and society, human nature), psychology, social psychology, and the social sciences (successful actions, conflict resolution, interactions between individuals and groups, understanding hierarchies), history (the “live-and-let-live” system in the trench warfare of World War I), politics (disarmament issues, multinational relationships), and economics/ecology (business relationships, the tragedy of the commons).
Modeling is also an interesting approach for mathematics/physics (game theory, nonlinear dynamics: formal theory of the evolution of cooperation).
