BIO494 Module 1 Introduction
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This document summarizes 5 days of content from a module on human nature: Day 1 discusses how people behave both fairly and selfishly in economic games depending on whether their decisions are concealed. Day 2 examines how cooperation evolved in groups through relatedness, reciprocity, and reputation. Day 3 shows how the fear of punishment curbs selfish behaviors. Day 4 explores how reputation provides benefits of cooperation in large, unrelated groups. Day 5 looks at the genetic and molecular bases of prosocial vs antisocial behaviors.
BIO494 Module 1 Introduction
- 2. Module 1: Day 1 Ever wonder how the same person can commit a seemingly selfless act of charity at one time and a horribly selfish act of cruelty at another time? Today, we consider the behavior of people in simple economic games, in which players decide whether to share money. You will see that people behave strategically, shifting from fairness to selfishness when circumstances conceal their decisions from others.
- 3. Module 1: Day 2 How cooperation evolves Compared to our ancestors, we live extravagant lifestyles founded on cooperation among millions of unrelated people. But why do people work together when they can freeload off the work of others? Today, we identify the conditions required for cooperative behavior to evolve within groups of organisms. You will see that relatedness, reciprocity, or reputation stabilized cooperation at each point in the development of human societies.
- 4. Module 1: Day 3 Punishment Ever wonder why the US citizens collectively pay more than 250 billion dollars a year for criminal justice? Today, we see how the fear of punishment curbs selfish behaviors. To do so, we contrast the outcomes of dictator games with the outcome of a new kind of game, in which people can refuse an unfair offer. We also learn how the desire punishment sets us apart from our fellow primates.
- 5. Module 1: Day 4 Reputation How many ways do we have of keeping track of each reputation? Credit scores, drivers licenses, school transcripts, criminal records---the list goes on and on. How much would you pay to conceal information that ruins your reputation among peers? Today, we see how reputation provides a ticket to enjoy the benefits of cooperation in any large group of unrelated people. No wonder blackmail is such a common enterprise!
- 6. Module 1: Day 5 What makes someone antisocial? For selfishness or cooperation to evolve, they must have molecular bases that depends on an organisms alleles. Today, we examine the molecular processes that generate variation in behavior and consider genetic differences between people. You will learn that most behaviors are heritable to some degree and can evolve by natural selection.