Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Does Punishment Help Maintain Cooperation?
Photo by Alberto Cueto via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
()
Photo by Alberto Cueto via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
Humans are, more or less, a cooperative species. But how is cooperation maintained when the potential rewards for being a free-rider are so much greater than the rewards for cooperating? New research by UCLA anthropologist Robert Boyd suggests that cooperation in large groups is maintained by punishment.
Consider a small group of individuals: you and your friends. You all have personal relationships with each other, and therefore a simple "you help me, I'll help you" rule maintains cooperations fairly easily. You help your friends because you do not want to hurt them by not cooperating, and because you might need their help in the future.
But now consider a large group, such as a tribe or village. Many of the mechanisms that support cooperation in the small group are lost. The "free-riders," who stop cooperating, still receive the benefits of large group membership. Free-riders are people who benefit from the group in food sharing and protection, for example, without contributing to hunting or war. Despite this, large groups continue to show evidence of cooperation. But how?
Support for LAist comes from
Boyd and colleagues suggest that cooperation is maintained in large groups by punishment, which reduces the benefit to being a free-rider. Previous models construed punishment and unregulated and uncoordinated. Often, the costs of punishment outweigh the costs incurred from not punishing the free-riders. In these models, it is actually advantageous to NOT punish free-riders.
But Boyd's model more closely matches human behavior: individuals meet and decide whether and how to punish group members who are not cooperating. In this way, the costs of punishment are distributed among many individuals, so punishment remains beneficial.
R. Boyd, H. Gintis, S. Bowles. (2010). Coordinated Punishment of Defectors Sustains Cooperation and Can Proliferate When Rare. Science, 328 (5978): 617. DOI: 10.1126/science.1183665
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The union representing the restaurant's workers announced Tuesday that The Pantry will welcome back patrons Thursday after suddenly shutting down six months ago. -
If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake.
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
Best of LAist