Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nat Hum Behav. 2018 Jul;2(7):492-499. doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0368-6. Epub 2018 Jul 2.
Social structure affects the emergence and maintenance of cooperation. Here, we study the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation in fragmented societies, and show that conjoining segregated cooperation-inhibiting groups, if done properly, rescues the fate of collective cooperation. We highlight the essential role of intergroup ties, which sew the patches of the social network together and facilitate cooperation. We point out several examples of this phenomenon in actual settings. We explore random and non-random graphs, as well as empirical networks. In many cases, we find a marked reduction of the critical benefit-to-cost ratio needed for sustaining cooperation. Our finding gives hope that the increasing worldwide connectivity, if managed properly, can promote global cooperation.
社会结构会影响合作的产生和维持。在这里，我们研究了碎片化社会中合作的进化动态，结果表明，如果处理得当，将相互隔离的抑制合作的群体联合起来，可以挽救集体合作的命运。我们强调了群体间联系的重要作用，这些联系将社会网络的各个部分连接起来，促进了合作。我们指出了实际环境中存在这种现象的几个例子。我们研究了随机和非随机图以及实证网络。在许多情况下，我们发现维持合作所需的临界收益-成本比显著降低。我们的发现表明，如果管理得当，全球日益增强的互联互通有望促进全球合作。
