Rationality, Competition and Evolution in Economics: Reflections on Some Recent Works by Economists and Game Theorists
Author: Giacomo Costa
Publisher:
Published: 1999
Total Pages: 8
ISBN-13:
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The Rational Animal
Author: Douglas T Kenrick
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2013-09-10
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 0465040977
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhy do three out of four professional football players go bankrupt? How can illiterate jungle dwellers pass a test that tricks Harvard philosophers? And why do billionaires work so hard -- only to give their hard-earned money away? When it comes to making decisions, the classic view is that humans are eminently rational. But growing evidence suggests instead that our choices are often irrational, biased, and occasionally even moronic. Which view is right -- or is there another possibility? In this animated tour of the inner workings of the mind, psychologist Douglas T. Kenrick and business professor Vladas Griskevicius challenge the prevailing views of decision making, and present a new alternative grounded in evolutionary science. By connecting our modern behaviors to their ancestral roots, they reveal that underneath our seemingly foolish tendencies is an exceptionally wise system of decision making. From investing money to choosing a job, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, our choices are driven by deep-seated evolutionary goals. Because each of us has multiple evolutionary goals, though, new research reveals something radical -- there's more than one "you" making decisions. Although it feels as if there is just one single "self" inside your head, your mind actually contains several different subselves, each one steering you in a different direction when it takes its turn at the controls. The Rational Animal will transform the way you think about decision making. And along the way, you'll discover the intimate connections between ovulating strippers, Wall Street financiers, testosterone-crazed skateboarders, Steve Jobs, Elvis Presley, and you.
Evolution and Rationality
Author: Samir Okasha
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-06-21
Total Pages: 293
ISBN-13: 1139510517
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis volume explores from multiple perspectives the subtle and interesting relationship between the theory of rational choice and Darwinian evolution. In rational choice theory, agents are assumed to make choices that maximize their utility; in evolution, natural selection 'chooses' between phenotypes according to the criterion of fitness maximization. So there is a parallel between utility in rational choice theory and fitness in Darwinian theory. This conceptual link between fitness and utility is mirrored by the interesting parallels between formal models of evolution and rational choice. The essays in this volume, by leading philosophers, economists, biologists and psychologists, explore the connection between evolution and rational choice in a number of different contexts, including choice under uncertainty, strategic decision making and pro-social behaviour. They will be of interest to students and researchers in philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, economics and psychology.
The Rational Animal
Author: Douglas T. Kenrick
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
Published: 2013-09-10
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 0465032427
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhy do three out of four professional football players go bankrupt? How can illiterate jungle dwellers pass a test that tricks Harvard philosophers? And why do billionaires work so hard—only to give their hard-earned money away? When it comes to making decisions, the classic view is that humans are eminently rational. But growing evidence suggests instead that our choices are often irrational, biased, and occasionally even moronic. Which view is right—or is there another possibility? In this animated tour of the inner workings of the mind, psychologist Douglas T. Kenrick and business professor Vladas Griskevicius challenge the prevailing views of decision making, and present a new alternative grounded in evolutionary science. By connecting our modern behaviors to their ancestral roots, they reveal that underneath our seemingly foolish tendencies is an exceptionally wise system of decision making. From investing money to choosing a job, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, our choices are driven by deep-seated evolutionary goals. Because each of us has multiple evolutionary goals, though, new research reveals something radical—there’s more than one “you” making decisions. Although it feels as if there is just one single “self” inside your head, your mind actually contains several different subselves, each one steering you in a different direction when it takes its turn at the controls. The Rational Animal will transform the way you think about decision making. And along the way, you’ll discover the intimate connections between ovulating strippers, Wall Street financiers, testosterone-crazed skateboarders, Steve Jobs, Elvis Presley, and you.
Rationality, Competition and Evolution
Author: Adriaan Witteloostuijn
Publisher:
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 394
ISBN-13: 9789052910284
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEvolutionary Epistemology, Rationality, and the Sociology of Knowledge
Author: Karl Raimund Popper
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
Published: 1987
Total Pages: 500
ISBN-13: 9780812690392
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Bartley and Radnitzky have done the philosophy of knowledge a tremendous service. Scholars now have a superb and up-to-date presentation of the fundamental ideas of evolutionary epistemology." --Philosophical Books
The Varieties of Economic Rationality
Author: Michel Zouboulakis
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-01-21
Total Pages: 188
ISBN-13: 1317817494
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe concept of economic rationality is important for the historical evolution of Economics as a scientific discipline. The common idea about this concept -even between economists- is that it has a unique meaning which is universally accepted. This new volume argues that "economic rationality" is not not a universal concept with one single meaning, and that it in fact has different, if not conflicting, interpretations in the evolution of discourse on economics. In order to achieve this, the book traces the historical evolution of the concept of economic rationality from Adam Smith to the present, taking in thinkers from Mill to Friedman, and encompassing approaches from neoclassical to behavioural economics. The book charts this history in order to reveal important instances of conceptual transformation of the meaning of economic rationality. In doing so, it presents a uniquely detailed study of the historical change of the many faces of the homo oeconomicus .
Why Think?
Author: Ronald de Sousa
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2007-06-25
Total Pages: 198
ISBN-13: 0198040938
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn a world where natural selection has shaped adaptations of astonishing ingenuity, what is the scope and unique power of rational thinking? In this short but wide-ranging book, philosopher Ronald de Sousa looks at the twin set of issues surrounding the power of natural selection to mimic rational design, and rational thinking as itself a product of natural selection. While we commonly deem ourselves superior to other species, the logic of natural selection should not lead us to expect that nature does everything for the best. Similarly, rational action does not always promote the best possible outcomes. So what is the difference? Is the pursuit of rationality actually an effective strategy? Part of the answer lies in language, including mathematics and science. Language is the most striking device by which we have made ourselves smarter than our nearest primate cousins. Sometimes the purely instinctual responses we share with other animals put explicit reasoning to shame: the movements of a trained athlete are faster and more accurate than anything she could explicitly calculate. Language, however, with its power to abstract from concrete experience and to range over all aspects of nature, enables breathtakingly precise calculations, which have taken us to the moon and beyond. Most importantly, however, language enables us to formulate an endless multiplicity of values, in potential conflict with one another as well as with instinctual imperatives. In short, this sophisticated and entertaining book shows how our rationality and our irrationality are inextricably intertwined. Ranging over a wide array of evidence, it explores the true ramifications of being human in the natural world.
Evolutionary Rationality, 'Homo Economicus', and the Foundations of Social Order
Author: Carsten Herrmann-Pillath
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 28
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis article elaborates on an alternate general approach to rationality, starting with the Hayekian concept of mind as a complex system of genetically, culturally, and individually created and transmitted rules. quot;Evolutionary Rationalityquot; is an individualistic alternative to quot;Homo Economicusquot; and the conventional concept of utility maximization under constraints. Its main elements are examined by means of an analysis paradoxes in the theory of games, as well as anomalies in the conventional approach that have been uncovered by experimental economics. This yields an approach to rationality in which individuals are quot;power maximizers,quot; able to synthesize both rational and irrational behaviors in their standard meanings. quot;Evolutionary rationalityquot; is thus an unity of reason and emotion - a unity which can be restated in evolutionary terms as recognizing the negative adaptive consequences of quot;Homo economicusquot; in our species' social context. Such unity of reason and emotion also prevails in cultural evolution. quot;Social affectivityquot; is linked to particular patterns of competition for power and the production of public goods within specific societies. Different consequences for the general analysis of social order are sketched, with special attention to the role of groups in the making of society.
The Roots of Reason
Author: David Papineau
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2006-01-26
Total Pages: 252
ISBN-13: 0191516082
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDavid Papineau presents a controversial view of human reason, portraying it as a normal part of the natural world, and drawing on the empirical sciences to illuminate its workings. In these six interconnected essays he offers a fresh approach to some long-standing problems. Papineau rejects the contemporary orthodoxy that genuine thought hinges on some species of non-natural normativity. He explores the evolutionary histories of theoretical and practical rationality, indicating ways in which capacities underlying human reasoning have been selected for their biological advantages. He then looks at the connection between decision and probability, explaining how good decisions need to be informed by causal as well as probabilistic facts. Finally he defends the radical view that a satisfactory understanding of decision-making is only possible within a specific interpretation of quantum mechanics. By placing the subject in its scientific context, Papineau shows how human rationality plays an explicable role in the functioning of the natural world.
