Goodman, Jonathan R (2023) The problem of opportunity. Biology and Philosophy.

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Abstract

Cultural group selection theorists propose that humans evolved prosocial preferences. These claims revolve largely around the centrality of punishment in cultural groups, which helped to eliminate free riders. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether distinguishing between free-riding as an action, and free riders as entities, undermines or supports this view. I develop three individual-based models of the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The first model shows that strong reciprocity removes overt free-riders from a population, and maintains a high rate of cooperation. In the second, I introduce individuals that mimic cooperative preferences, but who defect when they trick opponents into cooperating. I show that strong reciprocity is robust against this strategy, but not because individuals are replaced by strong reciprocators. Finally, I introduce a third strategy, covert mimicry, where some mimics may defect without detection. I draw attention to the problem highlighted in these models, which is that cooperation may be maintained in populations only because free riders are not presented with the opportunity to defect. I discuss this problem in the context of cultural group selection and the human capacity for innovation, and suggest that hypotheses relying on prosocial preferences for maintaining cooperation require some revision.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Goodman, Jonathan R
Keywords:	Cooperation; Prisoner’s dilemma; Cultural group selection; Free rider problem; mimicry
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Computer Simulation Specific Sciences > Cultural Evolution General Issues > Game Theory
Depositing User:	Dr Jonathan Goodman
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2023 03:33
Last Modified:	14 Nov 2023 01:01
Item ID:	22753
Journal or Publication Title:	Biology and Philosophy
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-0...
DOI or Unique Handle:	10.1007/s10539-023-09936-8
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Computer Simulation Specific Sciences > Cultural Evolution General Issues > Game Theory
Date:	7 November 2023
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22753

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• The problem of opportunity. (deposited 24 Oct 2023 01:07)
  • The problem of opportunity. (deposited 13 Nov 2023 03:33) [Currently Displayed]

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