The Evolution of Cooperation provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely p...
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Jan 11, 2011
Mangoo
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Dagli anni '40 dello scorso secolo, attraverso i contributi seminali di Neumann & Morgenstern, Nash e Wittgenstein tra l'altro, la teoria dei giochi e' emersa come uno strumento potentissimo e affascinante per l'analisi e la possibile soluzione di molteplici situazioni economiche, politiche, sociali, ecologiche. E questo accadeva proprio mentre la Guerra Fredda richiedeva un simile archivio di strategie ed esempi di condotta per scongiurare una guerra calda ancora piu' distruttiva di quella mond
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Jan 05, 2009
getAbstract
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A groundbreaking study on effective cooperation
Every so often a book comes along that is so groundbreaking it changes the popular worldview. This book, written in 1984 by Robert Axelrod, is just such a seminal work, an original analysis that changed the way experts view cooperation. Its ramifications apply to individuals, organizations, countries and even nonthinking – but nevertheless cooperative – biological life forms, such as bacteria. Axelrod based his book on the famous Prisone More...
Every so often a book comes along that is so groundbreaking it changes the popular worldview. This book, written in 1984 by Robert Axelrod, is just such a seminal work, an original analysis that changed the way experts view cooperation. Its ramifications apply to individuals, organizations, countries and even nonthinking – but nevertheless cooperative – biological life forms, such as bacteria. Axelrod based his book on the famous Prisone More...
Nov 03, 2010
Bart
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A very good book that makes me interested in reading more game theory. The first two chapters are a bit dense (but really not too bad) as Axelrod goes over the "Computer Prisoner's Dilemma Tournament" that sparked this book. These chapters are an analysis of computer programs (not as dull as it sounds), but it proves to be the evidence for his theory and the meat of the book.
A quick synopsis of the book: In the late 70s, Axelrod, a University of Michigan poli sci professor, More...
A quick synopsis of the book: In the late 70s, Axelrod, a University of Michigan poli sci professor, More...
Feb 08, 2010
Steven
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Robert Axelrod’s “The Evolution of Cooperation” is a classic in our understanding of why cooperation occurs in humans. The book begins with a simple question (Page vii): “When should a person cooperate, and when should that person be selfish, in an ongoing interaction with another person?” The ultimate explanation for the choice, according to Axelrod (and evolutionary theorist William Hamilton) is evolution. This is thoroughly discussed in Chapter 5, which outlines how cooperation could evolve a
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Feb 13, 2011
Nick
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An interesting analysis and interpretation of the computerized Prisoner's Dilemma tournaments that Axelrod held some 30 years ago. These were the tournaments in which "TIT FOR TAT" was shown to be an extraordinarily successful and robust strategy in the iterated PD. I read this because I read an article about it for one of my classes, which sparked my interest. There was a bit more interesting material in the book than in the article (by Doug Hofstadter), but not a great deal more. The
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Aug 19, 2011
Ronald
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A study of the game "The Prisoner's Dilemma" in which two players play a number of rounds in which each player can either cooperate with the other or defect. Tournaments were held in which intellectuals of varying professions submitted strategies of play and each was paired against the other. Though this would seem to be very dry material, the implications were fascinating when applied to bacterial and viral survival, individual human behavior, international relations, and military con
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Feb 06, 2010
Brad
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Aug 14, 2010
Mark
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"Explores how cooperation can emerge in a world ruled by selfishness with no central authority or rule. Axelrod demonstrates that enlightened self interest can lead to effective cooperation in any situation where the participants believe that they will need to interact with each other in the future. These lessons can, and should be applied to personal, corporate, national, and international interactions. After reading this book I noticed that I was much less likely to take an all or nothing
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Sep 22, 2011
Henri
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This book is about prisoner's dilemma. It's an older book (from year 1984), but this is a subject that will never go old. It's not an entertaining book, but is full of excellent observations about everyday selections between two living creatures or organisations. Writer of this book is respected professor Robert Axelrod best known from this subject.
I really liked it. You just must have some interest towards game theory to take this to your hand. Like said, it's not an easy read, but fu More...
I really liked it. You just must have some interest towards game theory to take this to your hand. Like said, it's not an easy read, but fu More...
Jul 02, 2009
Tyson
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The Evolution of Cooperation is an approachable read on game theory. Evolution was recommended by one of my economics professors in college; this book lays out the prisoner's dilemma, tit-for-tat, and other common games that have been useful tools when analyzing competitive behavior, negotiating tactics, and in investing.
May 09, 2011
Alex
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Its not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the most important books you will ever read. Nor is it an exaggeration to say that this book completely upended how I see the world. My only complaint? That it took me 39 years of walking around this planet before I finally had the good sense to read it!
Dec 29, 2010
Al
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I think about this book constantly. The book doesn't need to be read thoroughly, just understanding the properties of the "tit for tat" strategy is important, and at the end Axelrod gives some good advice if you want to build cooperative relationships in the future.
Aug 27, 2011
Words
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Truly the first book to discuss the mathematical modeling of evolutionary biology, but not the easiest entry into that space.
Mar 01, 2008
Gretch
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This book was a great read. There were parts that were hard for me to grasp during my first read, but upon going back to re-read those areas more slowly; I was able to understand the concepts. Robert Axelrod uses a game called "Prisoner's Iterated Dilemma to illustrate how cooperation evolves in real society. His conclusions that were drawn from this game showed cooperation can happen in many forms and under a lot of various conditions. It is a great read for anyone who wants to know more a
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Aug 22, 2008
John
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I grabbed this book while browsing in the BYU bookstore. It was located with the Computer Science textbooks. It provides an interesting explanation of Cooperation Theory. I think the following provides a great synopsis of the book: "We are used to thinking about competition in which there is only one winner, competitions such as football or chess. But the world is rarely like that. In the vast range of situations mutual cooperation can be better for both sides than mutual defection. The key
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Sep 26, 2008
Sourav
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This is probably the first and only book I've read in grad school that was thoroughly enjoyable for me to read -- enjoyable for me while I was actually reading it and not only in retrospect. I usually have slog through most texts for the sake of knowledge and insights I hope to gain if I am able to make it through. As I read Axelrod's book, however, I gained pleasure and insight during the very act of reading. He tackles profoundly important ideas and implications while writing in a style acc
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Sep 21, 2009
Kirt
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I thought that this was an interesting book. Although it isn't as nearly technical as a research paper would be you do need to have some computer science background to understand the book. I really like the concept of how cooperative and alturistic attributes can be a desirable traight that can be selected by evolution. He applies this to the prisoners dilemma, a classic game theory problem.
Aug 02, 2009
Frank
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Seminal work demonstrating how cooperation and develop, thrive and protect itself within a society of egotists. This book gave birth to the field of quantiative ethics, pointing a way for separating morality from superstition.
Aug 18, 2007
Kevin
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A good introduction to game theory as it pertains the Prisoner's Dilemma. If you aren't seriously into game theory, then it is easy to lose interest after the first half of the book after a few basic lessons are taught. But, if you are interested in applying it to business / software, then it pays to finish the text.
Oct 09, 2008
As reviewed by Martin Nowak in the 25 Sep 2008 issue of Nature (the 2008 US election special issue).
Jan 02, 2008
Mar 17, 2007
David
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Looks promising, though more technical than other layman economic books. Has a nice chapter called "Live and Let Live." Book on game theory and the conditions for cooperation to arise.
Sep 15, 2010
John
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Great book lots of interesting ideas and gives a new perspective on a lot of problems in many of areas.
A revisit(1yr later): Did I mention it's excellent and everyone should read it?
A revisit(1yr later): Did I mention it's excellent and everyone should read it?
Jan 03, 2008
Ean
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Axelrod's investigation of game theory neatly surmizes a basic operating premise for dealing with people in groups. Its oversimplifies but that is sort of the point with game theory.
Oct 25, 2011
Cheryl in CC NV
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I read this while I was in rehab; and even under the infulence of drugs found it understandable. Fascinating.
Jan 20, 2011
Michael
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My head is spinning. I can't think of another non-fiction book I've enjoyed more lately.
Dec 26, 2010
Ilya
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In the 1980s, political scientist Robert Axelrod organized two competitions of programs playing iterated prisoner's dilemma against each other; both times, the winner was a 5-line FORTRAN program called Tit for Tat by mathematical psychologist Anatol Rapoport: first cooperate, and then do whatever the opponent did during the previous round. This book grew out of a 9-page article describing these competitions, and it covers more material: suppose a player can choose among several strategies to pl
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Feb 11, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
