The emergence of cooperation by evolutionary generalization

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Behavioral ecology
• Game theory

Background:

• Reciprocal cooperation, where individuals cooperate if they expect a reward, is evolutionarily stable.
• However, reciprocal cooperation faces a 'chicken-and-egg' problem, requiring simultaneous evolution of cooperation and response to cooperation.
• This mechanism is rare in nature, often limited to species with overlapping interests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the evolutionary conditions necessary for reciprocal cooperation to emerge.
• To explain the limited distribution of reciprocal cooperation in non-human species versus its prevalence in humans.

Main Methods:

• Development of an evolutionary model incorporating machine learning techniques.
• Analysis of the concept of generalization in an evolutionary context.
• Identification of conditions promoting the evolution of reciprocal cooperation.

Main Results:

• Reciprocal cooperation emerges when the ability to cooperate and reward others' cooperation generalizes beyond initially selected contexts.
• Generalization of these behaviors is key to overcoming the evolutionary 'chicken-and-egg' problem.
• The model explains the observed distribution of reciprocal cooperation across species.

Conclusions:

• Generalized cooperation and reward responses are crucial for the evolution of reciprocal cooperation.
• This generalization mechanism explains the rarity of reciprocal cooperation in most species and its prevalence in humans.
• Understanding generalization provides insight into the evolution of complex social behaviors.