Evolutionary Stable Strategies and Game Theory

Being selfish is such a dilemma. When I reflect on selfishness, it is as if the proverbial angel and devil on my shoulders appear.

The Devil: Isnt selfishness just the summation of all the evolutionary processes that have brought me into being? Selfishness is what works.

The Angel: I am more the the sum of biology; humanity tells me that I can be more than these things. Even though it is so easy to submit to selfishness, I know I can curb it and put others first.

So are the angel and devil completely incompatible? Either, or? Or, is there some kind of compromise between the two? Perhaps there are certain things about which we can (or even ought to) be selfish – they are not egregious faults of character – and then there are things for which we should hold ourselves higher.

 

There is a classic question in evolution: how come there are cheaters? Because they win. If everyone at first played fair, eventually some individuals may realize that they can cheat the system by stealing and get more than what they’re putting in.  If that’s the case, shouldn’t everyone be cheaters? But if everyone cheated, the system would ultimately fail and this would not be a sustainable method. An all-cheating system becomes obsolete, but an all-fair system doesn’t always last.  Rather, a more realistic situation exists wherein fair players compose the majority of the population and cheaters are a small minority. The exact proportions of how many in each category depends on a cost/benefit analysis of each role. This dilemma is described in biology as ESS – Evolutionary Stable Strategies – and in economics as Game Theory.

 

Let’s apply ESS/Game Theory to a single individual instead of a population: If selfishness is to cheating, then selflessness is to playing fair.  Constant selfishness may make you happy for a while, but in the end you will probably find yourself in a mess by yourself, having alienated people. And constant selfless is no fun. There’s a reason why usually only devoutly religious men and women who make it their livelihoods try to act completely selflessly (and even then, we see that doesn’t always work out too well).

 

So I guess the question boils down to which aspects of life can we be selfish about, and which parts should we really try to be better? I think this is a personal question, based on your own experiences, cultural background, and bringing up. At the end of the day (or life), what is your goal? What will you be satisfied with. What is sustainable?