<I>The Evolution of Cooperation</I> provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely praised and much-discussed, this classic book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoists-whether superpowers, businesses, or individuals-when there is no central authority to police their actions. The problem of cooperation is central to many different fields. Robert Axelrod recounts the famous computer tournaments in which the “cooperative” program Tit for Tat recorded its stunning victories, explains its application to a broad spectrum of subjects, and suggests how readers can both apply cooperative principles to their own lives and teach cooperative principles to others.
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About the Author
<B>Robert Axelrod</B> is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. A MacArthur Prize Fellow, he is a leading expert on game theory, artificial intelligence, evolutionary biology, mathematical modeling, and complexity theory. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By R. Williams
Format:Paperback
A lot of interesting material is spun up from a simple premise: a two round tournament of programs for playing Prisoner's Dilemma. Game theory is one of the great cross-disciplinary topics. As the web is woven with nodes as distinct as Jean Jacques Rousseau and why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (a personal favorite for Socratic historical discussions), somehow it not only all makes sense, but you are left with the impression that the topic and the book combine to achieve the brass ring of writing: repeatedly fetching the proufound while remaining clear and simple. (Ironically, this book makes a good companion to readings on Complexity and Emergence. But that makes some sense since those topics have turned to automata and the realization that complexity is most often a function of simple constituents iterated.)
The read this and pass it on advice from the other reviewer here is good, and apropos, as this is about the infection of cooperative strategies in populations.
By "hegedus20"
Format:Paperback
It is really a fantastic book where you can get a lot about the importance of the inter-relationships among people and companies.
By wiredweird
Format:Paperback
This book has information for military theorists, biologists exploring gene regulation, antitrust policy-makers, and Miss Manners. It is a wonderfully clear explanation of how almost any two entities, interacting over time, develop a mutualism more profitable than greed.
The experimental support for these claims comes from a series of contests. Dozens of authors provided computer programs to play in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma - a simple model, but one that describes a surprising number of real-world phenomena. Most importantly, it's a testable model. It almost puts a common aspect of social interaction into a test tube. What came out of that test tube was startling in its clarity and simplicity.
The book is very readable. Axelrod segregates the mathematical and non-mathematical discussions with some care. Math-free readers see the whole set of experiments and conclusions, clearly explained, and need to skip only a few paragraphs during the main discussion. The last few chapters reward math-positive readers with additional precision and rigor. Even then, the math is accessible to someone with good high-school algebra skills.
Axelrod's discussion truly timeless, except for references to the Cold War as current events. I can accept that. Even though that un-war is mostly over, it's a critical part of modern history and it still informs current policy. Any insight into that madness helps, and Axelrod is very helpful.
This book stands above any one category. It's one of very few that I recommend to the bookshelves of every educated person.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Case study of the Prisoner's Dilemma
Axelrod discusses the Prisoner's Dilemma (classic case in game theory) in an iterated context. A wonderful read. Thorough, concise, and direct. Read more
Published on Jan 8 2004 by Mild-mannered scientist
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite possibly one of the 5 best books I've ever read.
This book is a must for anyone analyzing the dynamics of persons and groups. I've found most useful when analyzing crime prevention policy, and in particular, when searching for... Read more
Published on Dec 19 2003 by Juan Matosas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Life-Changing book for everyone
Few books really have an impact on our lives. After reading this one, however, I came to realize how the prisoner's dilemna and the ideas and real world examples of cooperation of... Read more
Published on Nov 10 2003 by SuperDangerBoy
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book on a Very Short List.
Finally something readable and with real content out of the realm of social "science". Noi pretnse and fantasitically cleqrly written. Read more
Published on Oct 17 2003 by Tim H
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most amazing books I've ever read.
If you're an intellectual and want to read a book that will change your perception of many facets of the world forever, this is the book for you. Read more
Published on Dec 28 2002 by Peter Marreck
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insights into Open Source Development
Though I've never seen the two linked elsewhere, this book explains how Linux and Open Source developers can succeed in a world populated by back-stabbing defectors. Read more
Published on Dec 26 2002 by David Pool
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!
Want a deterministic explanation about how cooperation evolved from selfinshness? No more hypotesis, no more expeculations, no more theories. Read more
Published on Nov 18 2002 by Marco Ruiz
5.0 out of 5 stars
How cooperation can emerge among self-interested actors
If you read this book as long ago as I did, you probably
first heard about it from Douglas Hofstadter's "Metamagical Themas" column in _Scientific American_, or the... Read more
first heard about it from Douglas Hofstadter's "Metamagical Themas" column in _Scientific American_, or the... Read more
Published on Aug 11 2002 by John S. Ryan
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