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Department of Human Evolutionary Biology Colloquium Series
Dr. Athena Aktipis
Director of Human & Social Evolution, USCF
Co-founder, Center for Evolution & Cancer, UCSF Research Scientist in Psychology, Arizona State University
Cooperation and competition are fundamental processes that influence the organization and trajectory of systems, from humans interacting in resource dilemmas to cells interacting within multicellular bodies. Modeling, constrained by empirical findings, provides a way to test the conditions under which cooperation can thrive and those under which competition dominates. My work addresses cooperation and cheating across systems, from the emergence and maintenance of human sharing systems to the evolution of multicellular life and susceptibility to cancer. I focus especially on cooperation and cheating with regard to resource use and resource transfers across system.
I will present findings from several lines of research regarding strategies that can promote and maintain cooperation. I have shown that cooperation and defection can co-exist in dynamic equilibrium when individuals can join and leave groups in agent-based Walk Away models. In my research on need-based transfers (i.e. sharing with others based on the need of the recipient rather than strict reciprocity), I show that generous strategies can outperform more stingy ones, especially in challenging environments.