Wednesday, December 20, 2006

BBC Horizon: Nice guys finish first



In this 1986 video, Richard Dawkins, author of the book, The Selfish Gene explains how natural selection can favour co-operation in nature - so long as it is of benefit to the selfish gene. His search for stable co-operate strategies, which remain unaffected by cheating and exploitation involves an extraordinary game known as the Prisoners' Dilemma, normally used by psychologists to study human behaviour. In their attempts to earn real money, players must wrestle with a dilemma - whether to follow their natural instincts of co-operation or the dictates of reason and behave selfishly.

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