Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Cath Dennis publishes non-computerized classroom adaptation of Axelrod’s iPD Tournament

Posted 30 May 2014 / 0

I have corresponded with Cath Dennis of the University of Aberdeen, as we both share an interest in how to bring some of the foundational work exploring cooperation into our classrooms. She has just published one of her classroom activities — an “analog” version of Robert Axelrod’s iPD tournaments — in the Journal of Biological Education.

A Minor Post, Articles, Cooperation, Evolution Education, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Reciprocity, Teaching Tools

Model evidence that third party punishment only makes sense in tight-knit groups

Posted 29 Jan 2014 / 0

Proceedings of the Royal Society B “High strength-of-ties and low mobility enable the evolution of third-party punishment“

A Minor Post, Altruism, Articles, Behavior, Evolutionary Modeling, Punishment, Reputation, Social Networks

How understanding social evolution might help treat cancer

Posted 29 Jan 2014 / 0

The information sharing issue is really interesting here: in some sense, the medical field has the most detailed organismal knowledge available for any species, and evolutionary biologists are generally not that aware of the depth of what is known about the functions of the human body. Although I think that evolutionists have a lot to Read More

A Minor Post, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Health & Medicine, Individual-based Models, Talks & Seminars

Microbes may surf their way to successful cooperation

Posted 10 Oct 2013 / 0

Wired “On the Microbial Frontier, Cheaters Rarely Prosper” This is fascinating, particularly because it attempts to connect the ability of bacteria to sustain cooperation through range expansion with the unique range expansion undertaken by humans in the last 30,000 years. I am not sure this will be a fruitful comparison, but you have to give it Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Microbial Ecology, Web

Zero determinant strategy is just another short-term adaptation

Posted 15 Aug 2013 / 0

The Scientist “A Twist in Evolutionary Game Theory: Biologists demonstrate the instability of employing a selfish strategy in the prisoner’s dilemma game” Nature Communications “Evolutionary instability of zero-determinant strategies demonstrates that winning is not everything” I am so glad to see that someone did the math and simulations to look at the long-term stability of Read More

A Minor Post, Adaptation, Articles, Behavior, Coevolution, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Individual-based Models, Phenotypic Plasticity, Punishment, Reciprocity, System Stability

Understanding kin selection and reciprocity when strategies are culturally propagated

Posted 16 Mar 2013 / 0

arXiv “Self-Organization Promotes the Evolution of Cooperation with Cultural Propagation“

A Minor Post, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Kin Selection, Reciprocity

Freeman Dyson wins the contest, and then says the contest is stupid

Posted 07 Dec 2012 / 0

Institute for Advanced Study “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” One of my favorite skateboarders when I was young was Natas Kaupas, an innovative skater who pioneered a lot of modern streetstyle. Natas was one of those skaters who could do things that no other skateboarders could, but he was not particularly successful in one arena that was Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Modeling (General), Multilevel Selection, Reciprocity

Making the formation of social networks more realistic also makes them more cooperative

Posted 11 Nov 2012 / 0

Physical Review E “Building cooperative networks“

A Minor Post, Articles, Coevolution, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Social Networks

Freeman Dyson calls the Prisoner’s Dilemma “an amusing toy”

Posted 17 Oct 2012 / 0

This is from the events calendar of Howard University, where Freeman Dyson gave a talk on October 12, 2012. Just in case this disappears from the web, here is the abstract of his talk: “The Prisoner’s Dilemma: Is it a model for the evolution of cooperation in the real world, or is it only a Read More

A Minor Post, Altruism, Cooperation, Evolution, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Group Selection, Web

Lack of complete transparency presents an obstacle but not a block to cooperation

Posted 20 Sep 2012 / 0

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “Evolution of cooperation and skew under imperfect information“

A Minor Post, Articles, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Political Science, Social Networks