The Sympathetic Plot, Its Psychological Origins, and Implications for the Evolution of Fiction

The sympathetic plot—featuring a goal-directed protagonist who confronts obstacles, overcomes them, and wins rewards—is ubiquitous. Here, I propose that it recurs because it entertains, engaging two sets of psychological mechanisms. First, it triggers mechanisms for learning about obstacles and how to overcome them. It builds interest by confronting a protagonist with a problem and induces satisfaction when the problem is solved. Second, it evokes sympathetic joy. It establishes the protagonist as an ideal cooperative partner pursuing a goal, appealing to mechanisms for helping. When the protagonist succeeds, they receive rewards, and audiences feel sympathetic joy, an emotion normally triggered when beneficiaries triumph. The capacities underlying the sympathetic plot evolved for learning and cooperation before being co-opted for entertainment.

THE EFFECT OF TOTAL ASSETS, OWN CAPITAL AND REVENUE ON THE REST OF BUSINESS RESULTS ON COOPERATIVE PARTNER MANDIRI INDRAGIRI HULU REGENCY

This research is a quantitative research conducted totested and analyzed the effect of total assets, equity and income partially on the remaining operating results at the Mitra Mandiri Cooperative, Indragiri Hulu Regency. This study uses secondary data by looking at the financial statements of the Mandiri Mitra Cooperative. The author performs data processing using multiple linear regression which processes it using SPSS (statistical package for social science) version 21 to get the output to conclude the results of this study. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the number of assets has a significant effect on the remaining operating results and own capital has a significant effect on the remaining operating results while partially income has no significant effect on the remaining operating results.

A Cooperative Partner Selection Study of Military-Civilian Scientific and Technological Collaborative Innovation Based on Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set

Military-civilian scientific and technological collaborative innovation (MCSTCI) is an important intersection of civil-military integrated development strategies and innovation-driven development strategies, and has become a brand-new model for Chinese key scientific and technological research. The selection of cooperative partner between military and civilian innovation entities is not only the primary segment to carry out MCSTCI activities, but also an important foundation for achieving complementary advantages and win-win cooperation. Therefore, on the basis of summarizing and combing the evaluation indicators, a partner selection model based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set multi-attribute decision-making is proposed. Firstly, we improve the traditional scoring function, and combine the new scoring function and entropy weight method to determine the weight of each evaluation indicator. Secondly, considering the impact of decision-makers’ risk attitudes, a method of transforming evaluation matrix based on hesitancy distribution is proposed. Finally, the grey correlation and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) method is used to mark and rank the candidates, and the innovation entities with the highest score is selected as the collaborative innovation partner. An example of a military equipment manufacturing enterprise in Beijing for partner selection in order to carry out joint technological research on a certain anti-ship missile weapon shows that the model is more comprehensive and flexible in solving fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making problems, and can assess and select cooperative partners for MCSTCI scientifically and objectively.

Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances

Investigations into cooperative partner choice should consider both potential and realised partners, allowing for the comparison of traits across all those available. Male bottlenose dolphins form persisting multi-level alliances. Second-order alliances of 4–14 males are the core social unit, within which 2–3 males form first-order alliances to sequester females during consortships. We compared social bond strength, relatedness and age similarity of potential and realised partners of individual males in two age periods: (i) adolescence, when second-order alliances are formed from all available associates, and (ii) adulthood, when first-order allies are selected from within second-order alliances. Social bond strength during adolescence predicted second-order alliance membership in adulthood. Moreover, males preferred same-aged or older males as second-order allies. Within second-order alliances, non-mating season social bond strength predicted first-order partner preferences during mating season consortships. Relatedness did not influence partner choice on either alliance level. There is thus a striking resemblance between male dolphins, chimpanzees and humans, where closely bonded non-relatives engage in higher-level, polyadic cooperative acts. To that end, our study extends the scope of taxa in which social bonds rather than kinship explain cooperation, providing the first evidence that such traits might have evolved independently in marine and terrestrial realms.

Game-Based Trust in Complex Networks: Past, Present, and Future

As an efficient approach, the trust policy is implemented to defend against insider attacks in complex networks. However, the imperfection of trust relationships directly hinders the effort to quantitatively calculate trust value, especially in choosing a cooperative partner. Fortunately, the game theory is gradually concerned with addressing the above issue to further enhance security. In this paper, the game theory and the trust policy are reviewed briefly. Then, the research roadmap on game-based trust in complex networks is discussed and analysed deeply. Furthermore, some research directions in the near future are given. It is worth mentioning that our contributions not only describe the evolution of the game-based trust clearly but also suggest the trust mechanism based on the bounded rational game more suitable to uncertain information.

The consequences of switching strategies in a two-player iterated survival game

We consider two-player iterated survival games in which players are able to switch from a more cooperative behavior to a less cooperative one at some step of an n-step game. Payoffs are survival probabilities and lone individuals have to finish the game on their own. We explore the potential of these games to support cooperation, focusing on the case in which each single step is a Prisoner’s Dilemma. We find that incentives for or against cooperation depend on the number of defections at the end of the game, as opposed to the number of steps in the game. Broadly, cooperation is supported when the survival prospects of lone individuals are relatively bleak. Specifically, we find three critical values or cutoffs for the loner survival probability which, in concert with other survival parameters, determine the incentives for or against cooperation. One cutoff determines the existence of an optimal number of defections against a fully cooperative partner, one determines whether additional defections eventually become disfavored as the number of defections by the partner increases, and one determines whether additional cooperations eventually become favored as the number of defections by the partner increases. We obtain expressions for these switch-points and for optimal numbers of defections against partners with various strategies. These typically involve small numbers of defections even in very long games. We show that potentially long stretches of equilibria may exist, in which there is no incentive to defect more or cooperate more. We describe how individuals find equilibria in best-response walks among n-step strategies.

Establishing relationships with a foreign cooperative partner in the context of the implementation of the international cooperation method

Introduction. One of the most important stages of the company's participation in international cooperation is undoubtedly the search and selection of a cooperating partner and establishing relationships with him. This plays a key role in achieving the goals and desired results of companies' participation in international cooperation and requires detailed study, systematization and graphical representation. The purpose of the paper is to improve the participation of enterprises in international cooperation by developing a sequence of establishing relationships with foreign cooperating partners in the context of using a certain method of international cooperation. Results. As participation in international industrial cooperation involves long-term partnership and pooling of resources to achieve common goals, the effectiveness of international cooperation depends directly on the cooperating partner. The process of finding and selecting a cooperating partner, establishing relationships with him is long-term and multi-stage, so it requires a clear definition of its components, their sequence and consistency. Thus, one of the necessary conditions for an enterprise to participate effectively in international cooperation is to develop a clear sequence of establishing relationships with a foreign cooperating partner, which consists of seven stages. The result of the successful completion of each of the stages of the proposed sequence of networking is the signing of an agreement with a foreign cooperating partner on the use of a certain method of international cooperation. If at a certain stage the actual results don`t coincide with the planned ones, it is possible to return to the problem areas and make certain adjustments in order to eliminate the shortcomings. Conclusion. Against the background of globalization and integration processes, the role of international cooperation as one of the effective ways to improve the competitiveness of both individual enterprises and the country's economy as a whole is constantly growing. However, the effectiveness of participation in international cooperation depends not only on the company itself, but also on the chosen cooperating partner. The proposed sequence of establishing relationships with a foreign cooperating partner in the context of the implementation of the method of international cooperation is a practically significant and universal tool that companies can adapt to their own goals and peculiarities and repeatedly apply in the future to choose a cooperating partner.

Pleiotropic mutations can rapidly evolve to directly benefit self and cooperative partner despite unfavorable conditions

Cooperation, paying a cost to benefit others, is widespread. Cooperation can be promoted by pleiotropic 'win-win' mutations which directly benefit self ('self-serving') and partner ('partner-serving'). Previously, we showed that partner-serving should be defined as increased benefit supply rate per intake benefit (Hart & Pineda et al., 2019). Here, we report that win-win mutations can rapidly evolve even under conditions unfavorable for cooperation. Specifically, in a well-mixed environment we evolved engineered yeast cooperative communities where two strains exchanged costly metabolites lysine and hypoxanthine. Among cells that consumed lysine and released hypoxanthine, ecm21 mutations repeatedly arose. ecm21 is self-serving, improving self's growth rate in limiting lysine. ecm21 is also partner-serving, increasing hypoxanthine release rate per lysine consumption and the steady state growth rate of partner. ecm21 also arose in monocultures evolving in lysine-limited chemostats. Thus, even without any history of cooperation or pressure to maintain cooperation, pleiotropic win-win mutations may readily evolve.

Coyhaique Cultural Center and crowdfunding as a financing strategy

The purpose of this work is to analyze the possibilities of crowdfunding strategies as financing alternatives to the resource management processes of cultural spaces. For this purpose, the experience of the cooperative partner program "Red de Amigos de la Cultura" of the “Centro Cultural de Coyhaique” and its results are reviewed. The review of this case leads us to evaluate the feasibility of the various existing financing alternatives for artistic and cultural projects, such as the “Ley de Donaciones Culturales” and to reflect on the role of the State in Chile as guarantor of cultural rights.

Project Ibunka – a web-based virtual exchange project

Since 2000, I have been coordinating a web based virtual exchange project, Project Ibunka. Ibunka means different cultures in Japanese. It aims to provide opportunities of authentic interaction among EFL/ESL learners all over the world. The project has been giving English language learners from various countries opportunities to use English for authentic purposes and promote intercultural understanding. Since 2000, more than 6,000 students from 22 countries have joined the project. The long life, the regularly appearing cooperative partner teachers, the diversity of students’ cultures, and the high quality of the messages exchanged, are the assets of Project Ibunka. This paper, as a case study of virtual exchange, overviews the background and the project constitution as a whole. It also analyzes the project management and students’ written products. The three administrative features, (1) non-unified project goals for partner institutions, (2) selecting and sequencing themes and sub-themes, and (3) moderation by experienced instructors, have contributed to students’ quantitative fluency as well as their qualitative improvement.