[MUD-Dev] More on Small Worlds

[Jeff Cole]

From: Koster, Raph on Friday, March 14, 2003 4:05 PM

> This is a brand new bit of research:

> http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1632073

> start quote--->
> Pro bono publico
> Mar 13th 2003
> From The Economist print edition
> The evolution of punishment explained

> HUMANS, unlike most other animals, often co-operate with
> individuals to whom they are unrelated. That puzzles evolutionary
> biologists. It means they have to explain the spread of genes
> which cause an individual to engage in altruistic activities that
> are costly to perform, and yet benefit only others.

This is a constant theme in my Economics, Behavior and Law seminar.

The benefit to the individual of "going with the flow" seem
ridiculously obvious to me.  Indeed, I reject the concepts that such
cooperation is per se costly and only benefits others.

To quote Robert Ellickson, "To exaggerate only a little, the
law-and-economics scholars believe that the law-and-society group is
deficient in both sophistication and rigor, and the law-and-society
scholars believe that the law-and-economics theorists are not only
out of touch with reality but also short on humanity."

Yrs. Affcty,
Jeff Cole



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