Group Selection and Altruism in a Cultural Evolutionary Setting and the Reduction of Malicious Envy in Economics

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianrocco Tucci
Keyword(s):  
Group Selection ◽  
Malicious Envy ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary

Envy Reduction in Economics: Equity, Altruism and ‘Cultural Group Selection’

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-151
Author(s):  
Gianrocco Tucci
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Group Selection ◽  
Structured Populations ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Cultural Group Selection ◽  
The Common ◽  
Cultural Traits ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary

Abstract This paper develops a set of arguments for envy reduction within economics. It tries to show that, if humans are psychologically biased towards accepting the group social norms, such as imitating the common behavior which may also happen to be the most successful in solving the puzzle of decision making, then cultural evolutionary processes will favour and stabilize cooperation. Then, the article discusses how, once cooperation is stable, ‘cultural group selection’ is likely to spread group-beneficial cultural traits - such as altruism considered here as the opposite of envy - through structured populations.

Tinkering with cognitive gadgets: Cultural evolutionary psychology meets active inference

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Benjamin Badcock ◽  
Axel Constant ◽  
Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Innovative Research ◽  
Cognitive Faculties ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive Gadgets offers a new, convincing perspective on the origins of our distinctive cognitive faculties, coupled with a clear, innovative research program. Although we broadly endorse Heyes’ ideas, we raise some concerns about her characterisation of evolutionary psychology and the relationship between biology and culture, before discussing the potential fruits of examining cognitive gadgets through the lens of active inference.

Mitigating malicious envy: Why successful individuals should reveal their failures.

2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Wood Brooks ◽  
Karen Huang ◽  
Nicole Abi-Esber ◽  
Ryan W. Buell ◽  
Laura Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malicious Envy

Prestige does not affect the cultural transmission of novel controversial arguments in an online transmission chain experiment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel V. Jiménez ◽  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Transmission Chain ◽  
Reliable Effect ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Relevant Domain ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
High Prestige ◽  
The Prestige

Cultural evolutionary theories define prestige as social rank that is freely conferred on individuals possessing superior knowledge or skill, in order to gain opportunities to learn from such individuals. Consequently, information provided by prestigious individuals should be more memorable, and hence more likely to be culturally transmitted, than information from non-prestigious sources, particularly for novel, controversial arguments about which pre-existing opinions are absent or weak. It has also been argued that this effect extends beyond the prestigious individual’s relevant domain of expertise. We tested whether the prestige and relevance of the sources of novel, controversial arguments affected the transmission of those arguments, independently of their content. In a four-generation linear transmission chain experiment, British participants (N=192) recruited online read two conflicting arguments in favour of or against the replacement of textbooks by computer tablets in schools. Each of the two conflicting arguments was associated with one of three sources with different levels of prestige and relevance (high prestige, high relevance; high prestige, low relevance; low prestige, low relevance). Participants recalled the pro-tablets and anti-tablets arguments associated with each source and their recall was then passed to the next participant within their chain. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find a reliable effect of either the prestige or relevance of the sources of information on transmission fidelity. We discuss whether the lack of a reliable effect of prestige on recall might be a consequence of differences between how prestige operates in this experiment and in everyday life.

Envy and Social Comparison

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels van de Ven ◽  
Marcel Zeelenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Past Work ◽  
Good Fortune ◽  
Malicious Envy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Upward Social Comparison

Upward social comparison can give rise to the emotion of envy: the pain caused by the good fortune of others. We explain what envy is, and what the possible function of envy is to an organism experiencing it. We provide an overview of past work on envy, the distinction between two subtypes (benign and malicious envy), possible antecedents of envy, possible consequences of envy, and the responses to being envied by others. In each of these areas there are clear links to research on social comparison, and research on envy has greatly benefitted from insights from the social comparison literature. Given the surge in research on envy in the last decade, we hope that the findings on envy can also inspire those investigating social comparisons.

Bayesianism and IBE

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Group Selection ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Hybrid View ◽  
Elliott Sober ◽  
Scientific Arguments ◽  
Explanatory Virtue

Different views have been proposed about how Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) and Bayesianism might be compatible with one another. One is a hybrid view, according to which explanatory considerations play a role in driving the Bayesian machinery. Another is an ‘emergent compatibilist’ view, in which an independently motivated Bayesian model of IBE is provided, so that explanatory considerations emerge from the Bayesian machinery rather than driving it. Specific scientific arguments can serve as test cases for these general views. The chapter argues that the case of Williams’ argument against group selection, discussed by Elliott Sober, is better understood with the emergent compatibilist picture, than with the hybrid view. This analysis of the case challenges Elliott Sober’s claim that the epistemic significance of appeals to the explanatory virtue of parsimony is highly case-specific. Instead, a more unified picture of IBE and its connection to Bayesianism is suggested.

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