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Scientific theories in both economics and biology assume that humans are inherently selfish. But a more optimistic view is gaining traction based on research by SFI Professor Sam Bowles and collaborators, says the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Read the Santa Fe New Mexican article (August 29, 2011)

Behavioral experiments conducted in the 1990s with people from many cultures show that there are relatively few truly selfish Homo sapiens, says Bowles. He collaborated with SFI External Professors Rob Boyd (UCLA) and Herbert Gintis (Central European University and MIT) and others on many of the studies.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about the recent spate of scientific results, Bowles says, is that an analysis of the archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic evidence, as well as recent computer modeling of notional populations, seems to point to a surprising origin of human generosity: war. 

The researchers find that groups exhibiting two co-existing traits seemed to prevail throughout human history: cooperation within groups and a willingness to collaborate in conflict against outsiders. By contrast, warlike/selfish groups don’t fare well. Altruistic/peaceful groups lose too.

Much of the research is compiled a new book, A cooperative species: Human reciprocity and its evolution, co-authored by Bowles and Gintis.