I also suggested to look for such a phenomenon in vampire bats, and other reciprocating species. Do bats stop co-operating after a certain age? (Or do other bats stop co-operating with them?)
In my experience, old people are LESS likely to defect in Prisoner’s dilemma, as judged by real-life instances. And other people are less likely to defect when interacting with them. This fact is worthy of some explanation, as it’s not what the basic theory of reciprocal altruism would predict.
The best explanation I’ve heard so far on the thread is that it is because of reputation post-mortem affecting relatives. This requires a social context where the “sins of the father are visited on the son” (to quote Randaly’s example).
One potential confound is that the rewards may not scale right: the older you are, often the wealthier you are. A kindergartner might be thrilled to defect for $1, while an old person can barely be troubled to stoop for a $1 bill.
Thanks for this suggestion.
I also suggested to look for such a phenomenon in vampire bats, and other reciprocating species. Do bats stop co-operating after a certain age? (Or do other bats stop co-operating with them?)
In my experience, old people are LESS likely to defect in Prisoner’s dilemma, as judged by real-life instances. And other people are less likely to defect when interacting with them. This fact is worthy of some explanation, as it’s not what the basic theory of reciprocal altruism would predict.
The best explanation I’ve heard so far on the thread is that it is because of reputation post-mortem affecting relatives. This requires a social context where the “sins of the father are visited on the son” (to quote Randaly’s example).
One potential confound is that the rewards may not scale right: the older you are, often the wealthier you are. A kindergartner might be thrilled to defect for $1, while an old person can barely be troubled to stoop for a $1 bill.