Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Computer-Based Tools for Teaching about Robert Axelrod’s Prisoner’s Dilemma Tournaments

Posted 20 Jan 2011 / 7

In a recent posting I discussed the book The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod [1, 2]. The book chronicles Axelrod’s work in the 1980’s to understand the dynamics of the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (IPD), which is perhaps the most well-known of game theory constructs. Axelrod’s work is important because it points out how rich Read More

Cooperation, Easy Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma, Educational Software and Apps, Evolution Education, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Individual-based Models, Lesson Ideas, Reciprocity, Spatially Explicit Modeling, System Stability, Teaching, Teaching Tools

The beginning of sex as we know it

Posted 20 Jan 2011 / 0

This month’s edition of Scientific American features a cover article entitled “Dawn of the Deed” by John A. Long. Long describes how fossil discoveries he and his colleagues made several years ago have changed the way we understand the evolution of copulation. While there has long been evidence that the sharks have practiced internal fertilization Read More

Adaptation, Paleonotology, Sex and Reproduction

“The Evolution of Cooperation” by Robert Axelrod

Posted 10 Jan 2011 / 0

I just finished reading Robert Axelrod’s seminal book entitled The Evolution of Cooperation. Although I had read a lot about Axelrod’s work and am quite familiar with the body of literature that it inspired, I had never actually read his book cover to cover. Going in, my expectation was of finding a rather primitive treatment Read More

Altruism, Behavioral Ecology, Books, Coevolution, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Evolution, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Human Evolution, Individual-based Models, Interdisciplinarity, Multilevel Selection, Mutualism, Political Science, Public Policy, Reciprocity, Sociology, Spatially Explicit Modeling

In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation (January 7th)

Posted 07 Jan 2011 / 0

John C. Avise [1, 2] started off the colloquium by giving a very brief introduction to the In the Light of Evolution series, highlighting much of the history I discussed in my preview. Peter Nonacs “Insect Societies: Pinnacles of Cooperation” Nonacs began his talk by giving it an additional subtitle: “peaks of runaway niceness”. His Read More

Conferences, Cooperation, Evolution, Talks & Seminars

In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation (An Abbreviated and Incomplete Social Network Analysis of the Speakers)

Posted 04 Jan 2011 / 0

In a couple of days I will be attending the In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation colloquium, and in preparation I have been reviewing the work of the featured speakers. Tomorrow, I will be posting a preview of the meeting. The meeting promises to be broad and interdisciplinary. It also features a very elite Read More

Conferences, Cooperation, Social Network Analysis

E.O. Wilson’s “The Four Great Books of Darwin”

Posted 02 Jan 2011 / 0

In preparation for my attendance at the In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation conference, I have been checking out past National Academy of Sciences colloquia in this series. In 2009, there was an In the Light of Evolution of III: Two Centuries of Darwin conference. There are podcast MP4’s for each of the talks Read More

Conferences, Evolution, History, Homo species, Human Evolution, Phylogenetics