scholarly journals The Evolution of Social Contracts

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Vlerick
Keyword(s):  
Nash Equilibrium ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Coordination Problems ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Naturalistic Account ◽  
Central Claim ◽  
Group Interests

AbstractInfluential thinkers such as Young, Sugden, Binmore, and Skyrms have developed game-theoretic accounts of the emergence, persistence and evolution of social contracts. Social contracts are sets of commonly understood rules that govern cooperative social interaction within societies. These naturalistic accounts provide us with valuable and important insights into the foundations of human societies. However, current naturalistic theories focus mainly on how social contracts solve coordination problems in which the interests of the individual participants are (relatively) aligned, not competition problems in which individual interests compete with group interests (and in which there are no group beneficial Nash equilibrium available). In response, I set out to build on those theories and provide a (more) comprehensive naturalistic account of the emergence, persistence and evolution of social contracts. My central claim is that social contracts have culturally evolved to solve cooperation problems, which include both coordination and competition problems. I argue that solutions to coordination problems (which I spell out) emerge from “within-group” dynamics, while solutions to competition problems (which I also spell out) result largely from “between-group” dynamics.

scholarly journals Social responsibility is the crucial factor in adopting early vaccination plans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harris V. Georgiou
Keyword(s):  
Nash Equilibrium ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Expectation Maximization ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
List Type ◽  
Cooperative Strategies ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Simple Preference ◽  
Risk Categories

Early vaccination of the general population is a very crucial aspect in the successful mitigation of highly infectious diseases, as it is the case of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The perception of possible side-effects from early batches of vaccines, presumably under-tested, is often a hindering factor for people not in high-risk categories to optin for early vaccination. In this work, early vaccination is formulated under a game-theoretic view with preference ranking and expectation maximization, in order to explore the constraints and conditions under which individuals are keen to opt-in for getting vaccinated. Although simple preference ranking leads to purely non-cooperative / non-altruistic Nash equilibrium, stable cooperative strategies can emerge under simple constraints on the payoffs, specifically the individual cost from possible side-effects versus the collective gain for the community (‘herd’) when endorsing vaccination by default.Significance StatementIf the collective gain from community-scale vaccination is deemed even marginally greater than each individual’s cost of possible side-effects, then the best strategy is to ‘cooperate’, i.e., every individual to opt-in for getting vaccinated.This condition is independent from the probabilities of getting infected, with or without vaccination, and it is sufficient to lead to a stable cooperative Nash equilibrium.In any lethal infectious disease like SARS-CoV-2 and less-than-lethal possible side-effects from the vaccine, for anyone that is susceptible plus one more in his/her own close environment, vaccination is the optimal strategy for all.

Evolution of Inference

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Skyrms
Keyword(s):  
Nash Equilibrium ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
David Lewis ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Major Advance ◽  
The Face ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Set Up

Rousseau began his discussion of the origin of language with a paradox that echoes through modern philosophy of language. How can we explain the genesis of speech without presupposing speech, reference without presupposing reference, meaning without presupposing meaning? A version of this paradox forms the basis of Quine's attack on the logical empiricist doctrine that logic derives its warrant from conventions of meaning—that logical truths are true and logical inferences are valid by virtue of such conventions. Quine raised the general skeptical question of how conventions of language could be established without preexisting language, as well as calling attention to more specific skeptical circularities. If conventions of logic are to be set up by explicit definition, or by axioms, must we not presuppose logic to unpack those conventions? David Lewis (1969) sought to answer these skeptical doubts within a game theoretical framework in his book, Convention. This account contains fundamental new insights, and I regard it as a major advance in the theory of meaning. Lewis sees a convention as being a special kind of strict Nash equilibrium in a game that models the relevant social interaction. To say that a convention is a Nash equilibrium is to say that if an individual deviates from a convention which others observe, he is no better off for that. To say that it is a strict Nash equilibrium is to say that he is actually worse off. To this, Lewis adds the additional requirement that an individual unilateral deviation makes everyone involved in the social interaction worse off, so that it is in the common interest to avoid such deviations. A theory of convention must answer two fundamental questions: how do we arrive at conventions?, and by virtue of what considerations do conventions remain in force? Within Lewis' game-theoretic setting, these questions become, respectively, the problems of equilibrium selection and equilibrium maintenance. On the face of it, the second problem may seem to have a trivial solution— the equilibrium is maintained because it is an equilibrium! No one has an incentive to deviate.

Penggunaan Social Stories untuk Menurunkan Perilaku Nonadaptif Saat Berada dalam Kendaraan Bagi Autisme Dewasa

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Markus Nanang Irawan ◽  
Sri Widyawati
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Adaptive Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Social Stories ◽  
Steering Wheel ◽  
Graph Analysis ◽  
Adult Autism ◽  
The Individual

<pre><span>Individuals autism often have non-adaptive behavioral problems because of their barriers in communication and social interaction. The problem of non-adaptive behavior is often a nuisance to others because its appearance is not appropriate and not in accordance with the environment, age, and expectations of responsibility. One case of non-adaptive behavior that arises is the behavior while in a vehicle where the individual shows the behavior of singing loudly, knocking windows, pinching the driver, even holding the steering wheel. Based on these problems, this study aims to reduce non-adaptive behavior while in a vehicle. Participant is an adult autism. The research method is experiment by giving Social Stories to participants before riding the vehicle then recording to the possibility appearance of non adaptive behavior. The results of graph analysis showed a decrease in non adaptive behavior of adult autism adults while in a vehicle. This study became one of the important studies because it tries to understand the dynamics of behavior problems of individual autisme in adulthood.<strong></strong></span></pre><pre><span> </span></pre>

scholarly journals Expressiveness and Nash Equilibrium in Iterated Boolean Games

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Julian Gutierrez ◽  
Paul Harrenstein ◽  
Giuseppe Perelli ◽  
Michael Wooldridge
Keyword(s):  
Nash Equilibrium ◽  
Nash Equilibria ◽  
Infinite Sequence ◽  
Multi Agent Systems ◽  
Temporal Logics ◽  
Agent Systems ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Boolean Games

We define and investigate a novel notion of expressiveness for temporal logics that is based on game theoretic equilibria of multi-agent systems. We use iterated Boolean games as our abstract model of multi-agent systems [Gutierrez et al. 2013, 2015a]. In such a game, each agent  has a goal  , represented using (a fragment of) Linear Temporal Logic ( ) . The goal  captures agent  ’s preferences, in the sense that the models of  represent system behaviours that would satisfy  . Each player controls a subset of Boolean variables , and at each round in the game, player is at liberty to choose values for variables in any way that she sees fit. Play continues for an infinite sequence of rounds, and so as players act they collectively trace out a model for , which for every player will either satisfy or fail to satisfy their goal. Players are assumed to act strategically, taking into account the goals of other players, in an attempt to bring about computations satisfying their goal. In this setting, we apply the standard game-theoretic concept of (pure) Nash equilibria. The (possibly empty) set of Nash equilibria of an iterated Boolean game can be understood as inducing a set of computations, each computation representing one way the system could evolve if players chose strategies that together constitute a Nash equilibrium. Such a set of equilibrium computations expresses a temporal property—which may or may not be expressible within a particular fragment. The new notion of expressiveness that we formally define and investigate is then as follows: What temporal properties are characterised by the Nash equilibria of games in which agent goals are expressed in specific fragments of  ? We formally define and investigate this notion of expressiveness for a range of fragments. For example, a very natural question is the following: Suppose we have an iterated Boolean game in which every goal is represented using a particular fragment of : is it then always the case that the equilibria of the game can be characterised within ? We show that this is not true in general.

scholarly journals Preparing for battle? Potential intergroup conflict promotes current intragroup affiliation

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N. Radford
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Breeding Pair ◽  
Simple Consequence ◽  
Future Planning ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Evolution Of Sociality ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Intergroup Conflicts ◽  
Agonistic Support

Groups of human soldiers increase their affiliative behaviour when moving into combat zones. Despite numerous other species also competing as groups, little is known about how potential intergroup conflict might influence current intragroup affiliative behaviour in non-human animals. Here, I show that allopreening (when one individual preens another) increases in groups of cooperatively breeding green woodhoopoes ( Phoeniculus purpureus ) when they enter areas where conflicts with neighbours are more likely. Self-preening, which is an indicator of stress in other species, did not increase in conflict areas, suggesting that the change in affiliative behaviour is not the simple consequence of greater stress. Instead, because it is the dominant breeding pair that increase their preening of subordinate helpers, it is possible that current affiliative behaviour is being exchanged for agonistic support in any intergroup conflicts that might ensue. These results are important for our understanding of group dynamics, cooperation and the evolution of sociality, but also bring to mind the intriguing possibilities of social contracts and future planning in birds.

scholarly journals Decentralised sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) vine multiplication in Lake Zone, Tanzania: Five years later

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 677-689
Author(s):  
Margaret A. McEwan ◽  
Conny J. M. Almekinders ◽  
Moses S. Matui ◽  
Dorothy Lusheshanija ◽  
Mariana Massawe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Ipomoea Batatas ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Lake Zone ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Market Factors ◽  
The Individual

AbstractFarmer-based seed multiplication is widely promoted by development practitioners, but there is limited understanding of the individual or collective motivations of farmers to engage or disengage in specialised seed production. The objective of this study is to understand the factors influencing the continuity of sweetpotato vine multiplication enterprises in the Lake Zone of Tanzania, five years after support from a project ended. A total of 81 out of 88 trained group or individual decentralised vine multipliers (DVMs) were traced to assess their vine multiplication activities. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through telephone and field interviews. Our data showed that 40% of the 81 DVMs had sold vines in the year prior to the study and 20% had maintained the improved varieties for their own use. Some group members had continued vine sales as individuals. The DVMs’ reasons for abandoning vine multiplication included climatic and water access issues, market factors and group dynamics. The DVMs did not engage in high volumes of commercial sales. Socio-economic norms and values underpin the transactions of sweetpotato vines. These norms may undermine the emergence of commercially viable enterprises yet seem navigable for a substantial number of the DVMs. Group DVMs seem less commercially successful than individuals.

The Politics of Individual and Group Difference in Canadian Jurisprudence

1994 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avigail Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Collective Rights ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Group Interests

AbstractConstitutional commentators who interpret conflicts between individuals and communities in terms of a struggle between individual and collective rights do not accurately capture the jurisprudence developed in the courts regarding such conflicts. Such conflicts are more clearly analyzed when they are framed in terms of identity-related differences. The difference perspective has three advantages over the “individual versus collective rights” perspective. First, the difference perspective accurately retrieves the courts' reasoning by framing it in terms of the values actually at stake. Second, it avoids the traditional dichotomy between individual and collective rights. Third, it provides a means to compare claims of individuals and groups without reducing group interests to individual interests.

scholarly journals Should Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) be Used With Focus Groups? Navigating the Bumpy Road of “Iterative Loops,” Idiographic Journeys, and “Phenomenological Bridges”

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692092160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly Love ◽  
Arlene Vetere ◽  
Paul Davis
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Thematic Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Voice

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a qualitative thematic approach developed within psychology underpinned by an idiographic philosophy, thereby focusing on the subjective lived experiences of individuals. However, it has been used in focus groups of which some have been critical because of the difficulties of extrapolating the individual voice which is more embedded within the group dynamics and the added complexity of multiple hermeneutics occurring. Some have adapted IPA for use with focus groups, while others provide scant regard to these philosophical tensions. This raises the question whether IPA should be used with focus group data. To address these concerns, this article will set out a step-by-step guide of how IPA was adapted for use with focus groups involving drug using offenders (including illustrative examples with participants’ quotes). A rationale of why it was important to use both focus groups and an IPA approach will be covered including the value, merits, and challenges this presented. An overview of how participants’ idiographic accounts of their drug use, relapse, and recovery were developed will be provided. This article will conclude with a suggested way forward to satisfy the theoretical tensions and address the question raised in the title.

Designing the Person: Sociological Assumptions Embodied within the Architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Le Corbusier

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-162
Author(s):  
Clare Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Le Corbusier ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Architectural Practice ◽  
Individual Person ◽  
Interesting Insight ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Insight Into

This essay presents a comparative study of the sociological assumptions implicit, and to some extent explicit, in the work of two famous architects, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Le Corbusier. The inhabitant implied through the architectural practice of Le Corbusier resembles Elias's homo clausus (closed person), the mode of self experience viewed by Elias as the dominant one in Western society and one which sees the individual person as a ‘thinking subject’ and the starting point of knowledge. Mackintosh's designs, in contrast, imply individual people closer to Elias‘s homines aperti, social beings who are shaped through social interaction and interdependence. This paper demonstrates how, as well as fulfilling social, cultural and political needs, architecture carries, within in its designs, certain assumptions about how people and how they do, and should, live. The adoption of an Eliasian perspective provides an interesting insight into how these assumptions can shape self-experience and social interaction in the buildings of each architect.

scholarly journals Self-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook use

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 831-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Bergagna ◽  
Stefano Tartaglia
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Facebook Use ◽  
The Individual

Facebook use is very popular among young people, but many open issues remain regarding the individual traits that are antecedents of different behaviours enacted online. This study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between self-esteem and the amount of time on Facebook could be mediated by a tendency towards social comparison. Moreover, three different modalities of Facebook use were distinguished, i.e., social interaction, simulation, and search for relations. Because of gender differences in technology use and social comparison, the mediation models were tested separately for males and females. Data were collected by means of a self-report questionnaire with a sample of 250 undergraduate and graduate Italian students (mean age: 22.18 years). The relations were examined empirically by means of four structural equation models. The results revealed the role of orientation to social comparison in mediating the relations between low self-esteem and some indicators of Facebook use, i.e., daily hours on Facebook and the use of Facebook for simulation. For females, the use of Facebook for social interaction was directly influenced by high self-esteem and indirectly influenced by low self-esteem. Globally, the dimension of social comparison on Facebook emerged as more important for females than for males.

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