Networked minds create a cooperative human species

In their computer simulations of human evolution, scientists at ETH Zurich find the emergence of the “homo socialis” with “other-regarding” preferences. 

The results explain some intriguing findings in experimental economics and call for a new economic theory of “networked minds”. 

Credit: © violetkaipa / Fotolia

Economics has a beautiful body of theory but does it describe real markets?

Doubts have come up not only in the wake of the financial crisis, since financial crashes should not occur according to the then established theories.

For some time economic theory has been based on concepts such as efficient markets and the “homo economicus”, i.e. the assumption of competitively optimising individuals and firms.

It was believed that any behaviour deviating from this would create disadvantages and, hence, be eliminated by natural selection.

But experimental evidence from behavioural economics show that, on average, people behave more altruistically ('fairness-oriented' and 'other-regarding') than expected. A new theory by scientists from ETH Zurich now explains why.

“We have simulated interactions of individuals facing social dilemma situations, where it would be favourable for everyone to cooperate, but non-cooperative behaviour is tempting,” explains Dr. Thomas Grund, one of the authors of the study.

“Hence, cooperation tends to erode, which is bad for everyone.” This may create tragedies of the commons such as over-fishing, environmental pollution, or tax evasion.

Evolution of “friendliness”
Prof. Dirk Helbing of ETH Zurich, who coordinated the study, adds: “Compared to conventional models for the evolution of social cooperation, we have distinguished between the actual behaviour – cooperation or not – and an inherited character trait, describing the degree of 'other-regarding' preferences, which we call the friendliness.”

The actual behaviour considers not only the own advantage (“payoff”), but also gives a weight to the payoff of the interaction partners depending on the individual friendliness.

For the “homo economicus”, the weight is zero. The friendliness spreads from one generation to the next according to natural selection. This is merely based on the own payoff, but mutations happen.

For most parameter combinations, the model predicts the evolution of a payoff-maximizing “homo economicus” with selfish preferences, as assumed by a great share of the economic literature.

(Homo socialis is subjected to society, is a part of it.)

Very surprisingly, however, biological selection may create a “homo socialis” with 'other-regarding' preferences. In such a case, clusters of friendly people, who are “conditionally cooperative”, may evolve over time.

If an unconditionally cooperative individual is born by chance, it may be exploited by everyone and not leave any offspring.

However, if born in a favourable, conditionally cooperative environment, it may trigger cascade-like transitions to expand cooperative behaviour, such that 'other-regarding' behavior pays off. #

Networked minds create a cooperative human species

“This has fundamental implications for the way, economic theories should look like,” states Professor Helbing.

Most of today’s economic knowledge is for the “homo economicus”, but people wonder whether that theory really applies.

A comparable body of work for the “homo socialis” still needs to be written. While the “homo economicus” optimizes its utility independently, the “homo socialis” puts himself or herself into the shoes of others to consider their interests as well,” explains Grund

Helbing adds: “This establishes something like “networked minds”. Everyone’s decisions depend on the preferences of others.” This becomes even more important in our networked world.

A participatory kind of economy

How will this change our economy? Today, many customers doubt that they get the best service by people who are driven by their own profits and bonuses.

“Our theory predicts that the level of 'other-regarding' preferences is distributed broadly, from selfish to altruistic. Academic education in economics has largely promoted the selfish type.

Perhaps, our economic thinking needs to fundamentally change, and our economy should be run by different kinds of people,” suggests Grund.

“The true capitalist has 'other-regarding' preferences,” adds Helbing, “as the “homo socialis” earns much more payoff.”

This is, because the “homo socialis” manages to overcome the downwards spiral that tends to drive the “homo economicus” towards tragedies of the commons.

The breakdown of trust and cooperation in the financial markets in 2008would be seen as good example.

“Social media will promote a new kind of participatory economy, in which competition goes hand in hand with cooperation,” believes Helbing.

Indeed, the digital economy’s paradigm of the “prosumer” states that the Internet, social platforms, 3D printers and other developments will enable the co-producing consumer.

“It will be hard to tell who is consumer and who is producer”, says Christian Waloszek. “You might be both at the same time, and this creates a much more cooperative perspective.”

Being Human - The Anatomy of Boredom

Firstly, Boredom is adaptive as a transient state, but dangerous as a chronic condition.

To tell the difference between the two, psychologists designed this test, known as the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS) and devised in 1986, as a way of distinguishing between a) those who suffer transient boredom and b) from those who suffer chronic boredom.

The following statements should be answered using a 7-point scale — from ’1′ (highly disagree), to ’4′ (neutral), to ’7 ‘(highly agree).

1. It is easy for me to concentrate on my activities.
2. Frequently when I am working I find myself worrying about other things.
3. Time always seems to be passing slowly.
4. I often find myself at “loose ends”, not knowing what to do.
5. I am often trapped in situations where I have to do meaningless things.
6. Having to look at someone’s home movies or travel slides bores me tremendously.
7. I have projects in mind all the time, things to do.
8. I find it easy to entertain myself.
9. Many things I have to do are repetitive and monotonous.
10. It takes more stimulation to get me going than most people.
11. I get a kick out of most things I do.
12. I am seldom excited about my work.
13. In any situation I can usually find something to do or see to keep me interested.
14. Much of the time I just sit around doing nothing.
15. I am good at waiting patiently.
16. I often find myself with nothing to do, time on my hands.
17. In situations where I have to wait, such as a line I get very restless.
18. I often wake up with a new idea.
19. It would be very hard for me to find a job that is exciting enough.
20. I would like more challenging things to do in life.
21. I feel that I am working below my abilities most of the time.
22. Many people would say that I am a creative or imaginative person.
23. I have so many interests, I don’t have time to do everything.
24. Among my friends, I am the one who keeps doing something the longest.
25. Unless I am doing something exciting, even dangerous, I feel half-dead and dull.
26. It takes a lot of change and variety to keep me really happy.
27. It seems that the same things are on television or the movies all the time; it’s getting old.
28. When I was young, I was often in monotonous and tiresome situations.

To find out your own proneness to boredom, add up the total of the scores you gave each question.

The average score is 99, and the average range 81-117. If you scored above 117, you become bored easily, and if you scored below 81, your boredom threshold is very high.

Researchers have found that some people have a metabolic proneness to chronic boredom, correlated with neurotransmitter imbalances and higher risks for depression, anxiety, addiction, eating disorders, gambling, hostility, low academic performance, and more.

NB: Be cautious in assuming causality; chronic boredom can be just a symptom of these chemical imbalances, along with risk-taking and sensation-seeking, rather than a causative agent.

Meanwhile, those who suffer only transient boredom have been found to perform better in various aspects of life, including work, education, and personal autonomy.

More information
By looking at everything from body language in classical paintings to studies from some of the world’s best neuroscience labs, a book written by Peter Toohey: Boredom: A Lively History, examines boredom as an adaptive mechanism.

It goes on to paint a portrait of boredom that is at once a sweeping cultural observation across time and space and a deeply relatable, personal lens on this most unglamorous yet most universal aspect of what it means to be human.

Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking

The first book to reveal and dissect the technical aspect of many social engineering manoeuvres.

From elicitation, pretexting, influence and manipulation all aspects of social engineering are picked apart, discussed and explained by using real world examples, personal experience and the science behind them to unraveled the mystery in social engineering.


Kevin Mitnick: One of the most famous social engineers in the world. popularised the term “social engineering.”

He explained that it is much easier to trick someone into revealing a password for a system than to exert the effort of hacking into the system.

Mitnick claims that this social engineering tactic was the single-most effective method in his arsenal.

This indispensable book examines a variety of maneuvers that are aimed at deceiving unsuspecting victims, while it also addresses ways to prevent social engineering threats.

• Examines social engineering, the science of influencing a target to perform a desired task or divulge information 
• Arms you with invaluable information about the many methods of trickery that hackers use in order to gather information with the intent of executing identity theft, fraud, or gaining computer system access 
• Reveals vital steps for preventing social engineering threats

Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking does its part to prepare you against nefarious hackers—now you can do your part by putting to good use the critical information within its pages.


Tour the Dark World of Social Engineering

• Learn the psychological principles employed by social engineers and how they’re used
• Discover persuasion secrets that social engineers know well
• See how the crafty crook takes advantage of cameras, GPS devices, and caller ID
• Find out what information is, unbelievably, available online
• Study real-world social engineering exploits step by step

“Most malware and client-side attacks have a social engineering component to deceive the user into letting the bad guys in. You can patch technical vulnerabilities as they evolve, but there is no patch for stupidity, or rather gullibility. Chris will show you how it’s done by revealing the social engineering vectors used by today’s intruders. His book will help you gain better insight on how to recognize these types of attacks.”
—Kevin Mitnick, Author, Speaker, and Consultant

“Chris Hadnagy has penned the ultimate text on social engineering. Meticulously researched and teeming with practical applications, this brilliant book offers solutions to very real problems and ever-present dangers to your business — and even to yourself. Truly groundbreaking.”
—Kevin Hogan, author of The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say “Yes” in 8 Minutes or Less

Read More at Elite Professionals website

Man as Industrial Palace: Famous 1926 Lithograph Brought to Life

In 1926, Fritz Kahn, a German gynecologist and anatomy textbook author, produced a lithograph called Der Mensch als Industriepalast (Man as Industrial Palace) that depicted the human body as a factory (see here), a chemical plant of sorts.

Kahn’s body came complete with mechanical lungs, a rock-sorting stomach, gears for a throat, and a switchboard for a brain, and it illustrated rather metaphorically the degree to which industrialization had taken over Western life, creating deep anxiety for some and curiosity for others.

More than eighty years later, Henning Lederer, a German artist, has brought Kahn’s mechanical body to life with some gifted animation. This dynamic version is currently on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the “Health for Sale” exhibition.

To learn more about Lederer’s project, you will want to spend more time on IndustriePalast.com and particularly with this helpful PDF. Other animation by Lederer appears on Vimeo. Many thanks to Elliot for sending this along.

Are Twitterverse or Homo Economicus? Check it out now!

Editors at Britain's Collins English Dictionary have added these and 264 other entries to the 30th Anniversary Edition, published Sept. 3.

To qualify for inclusion in the esteemed lexicon, a word had to have, over the past two years, six quality citations in Collins' digital corpus, a computerized database that scans 2.5 billion words across a number of print and online resources.

The rise of social-networking sites led to the addition of Twitter (the noun) and twitter (the verb), while the kind of dashed-off writing that appears in posts on that site has given new permanence to words such as hmm, heh, and mwah (the sound of an exaggerated kiss) that were previously considered mere sounds.

"Had Twitter and Facebook not become so popular, there's no doubt these terms would not have been included," says Duncan Black, editor of the dictionary. "They're part of the language of microblogging."

He also credits Twitter for the resurgence of terms like heigh-ho and hey-ho — exclamations of happiness, disappointment or surprise — that had fallen into disuse. Words popular in e-mail shorthand and text-messaging such as OMG (oh my god) and WTF (what the f___) also made the cut.

Beyond digital culture, environmental concerns have helped color the dictionary green. Craggers (members of carbon reduction action groups) now have terms to describe their colleagues in the environmental movement.

They probably know more than one ecotarian (a person who only eats food that has been produced in an environmentally friendly manner) and plenty of carborexics (those obsessed with reducing their carbon footprint).

Lastly, the ongoing global financial crisis has moved once highly niche words into the mainstream. People that bandy about complex terms like quantitative easing (increasing the supply of money in order to stimulate economic activity) can now check that they are actually using them correctly.

The recession's effect on our behavior has impacted language too. Holidaymakers trying to rein in spending have popularized the term staycation (taking a holiday without going abroad). Glamping (glamorous camping) is less popular at the moment, for obvious reasons.

Expand your vocabulary with these other additions to the dictionary:

• Avid fart: a flashy and intrusive visual-effects editing style (in film)
• Beer o'clock: the time of day when it is acceptable or customary to start drinking alcohol
• boomburb: a large suburb experiencing rapid population growth
• cage fighting: a form of extreme fighting taking place in an enclosed space
• frugalista: a person who tries to stay fashionably dressed on a budget
• gak: slang for cocaine#
• goon bag: the plastic bladder inside a box of (usually cheap) wine
• homo economicus: a theoretical human being who rationally calculates the costs and benefits of every action before making a decision, used as the basis for a number of economic theories and models
• Ponzimonium: financial turmoil in the wake of uncovering Ponzi schemes
• space junk: objects such as artificial satellites and material discarded from space stations that remain in space after use
• supernanny: an expert who advises parents on how to deal with badly behaved children
• Twitterverse: the social-networking site Twitter and its users

Tamiflu & Relenza Resistance is a certainty rather than a risk

Two anti-flu drugs are commonly stockpiled for use in a flu pandemic: oseltamivir, which is sold as Tamiflu, and zanamivir, which is sold as Relenza. Both work by inhibiting an enzyme called neuraminidase (the 'N' in H1N1). The virus needs this enzyme to break down normal cell walls and to replicate using a mutated version of the victims own RNA.

The 2 drugs act on different parts of the enzyme and resistance to one drug does not confer resistance to the other. The Mexican H1N1 strain is currently classed as being 'sensitive' to both drugs. This is not a 'cure' it is simply a 'treatment' and no one knows how long this 'sensitivity' will last.

The Wu team conducted their study after noticing that despite concerns about resistance, many countries stockpile just one drug, usually oseltamivir. There are some exceptions, however, including Australia and the UK, which stockpile both drugs.

Viruses are notorious for their ability to develop resistance to drugs. Last year, an H1N1 flu strain that caused some seasonal flu rapidly developed resistance to oseltamivir. By December, "close to 100 per cent of H1N1 in Australia and the US, and many other parts of the world, were resistant to Tamiflu", says Raina MacIntyre, an infectious disease expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

H1N1 Swine Flu: very weak viral strain

First genetic analysis of how well this virus transmits from person to person concludes that it spreads barely well enough to keep itself going.

The analysis also suggests the virus may have started circulating as long ago as January. But because there have been so few cases to analyse, the calculation is uncertain. It could have started more recently, or as far back as September.

Nicholas Grassly of Imperial College London and Andrew Rambaut of the University of Edinburgh, UK, have analysed the rate of spread. Their analysis is based on the small mutations that have accumulated in almost two dozen genetic sequences produced so far, from viruses collected from patients in Mexico and the US.

Freely available

In contrast to H5N1 bird flu, all the genetic sequences of this H1N1 are being posted on bulletin boards like GISAID, where scientists can access them and compare preliminary analyses.

The GISAID system was set up in 2006 by scientists who protested that H5N1 sequences were not being made freely available.

"The limited sampling so far gives rise to considerable uncertainty in the estimate," cautions Rambaut. But if the rate at which genes mutate is about the same for this virus as for other H1N1 viruses, the number of mutations that have accumulated so far suggests it has been circulating since January – or even September 2008.

Weak virus

If the new virus spreads from one infected person to the next at about the same speed as ordinary flu, that gives an idea of how many cases there may have been in that time. A mathematical model permits the calculation of an important variable called R₀ – the number of additional people infected, on average, by each case. If R₀ is less than one, an infection dies out.

Grassly also cautions that the estimate is very preliminary. But with the data available now, he gets an R₀ of 1.16 – enough for the virus to keep going, but only just.

This could be good news. In epidemiological theory, at least, the lower the R₀, the easier it may be to snuff the virus out by further hindering its spread.

But it may be too early for celebrations. The 1918 flu pandemic, caused by another H1N1 virus, started with a mild, early wave in spring and early summer. The flu lab at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US estimates that the R₀ of the 1918 virus in spring was only 1.45. That shot up, they estimate, to 3.75 when the virus began its lethal second wave the following autumn.

Much may now depend on how quickly the new H1N1 virus from swine adapts to people.

HR - New Start Integration

DIS - Dynamic integration support in a rapidly changing, cost conscious and fast growing enterprise

The dynamic integration support process will supplement and enhance the services provided by the organisations stressed-out HR staff and management team. The consultant addresses the volatile requirements of stakeholders both in the rapid uptake of candidates and in their effective integration into the new environment. The consultant decreases the time taken to assimilate new staff and embed them into the team and organisation, maximising their effectiveness and motivation throughout.

Chief Executives

Dynamic integration in a rapidly changing 'cost conscious' enterprise is able to support and supplement the HR staff in addressing the 'cost versus talent' argument by supplying focused coaching skills to candidates that may be less qualified, less experienced or unused to the new environment that they find themselves in. Free from this responsibility, the HR team can then concentrate on sourcing candidates with the greatest potential and the right motivation to grow without worrying about precision skills matching and the integration of candidates that may have different or unmatched energy levels and personalities from the incumbent team.

Hierarchy awareness and Buy-in

The DIS process also requires that the managing environment and team understand the changing team dynamics and that they are also positively managed through this period. Working on behalf of the organisation and the team, the DIS process ensures the rapid uptake of new skills and knowledge by the candidate. Supplying the provision of a mentor to manage the changes and to mitigate or resolve any risks or issues, envisaged or arising. The consultant will establish a buffer or de-militarised zone to allow the free flow of dialogue and negotiation, minimising disruption to the team’s effectiveness and to managerial goals.

Performance enhancements realised

It is vital to be able to positively manage the organisational expectations coming from forthcoming changes in staffing levels and the introduction of new skills and personalities. The organisation must maintain team and goal cohesiveness and remain focused on moving forward, not at the same pace but with greater efficiency, greater capability and rapid growth. To do this you need to increase effective integration rates and decrease staff fall-out and turnover. The loss of experience from an organisation is taking the life blood out of it, in the form of loyalty, commitment and hard-won knowledge. Thus compelling them to make the same mistakes over and over again and sustain losses repeatedly.

Finance Officers placated

By supporting the management from within, the stakeholders’ expected benefits, established goals and ROI can be truly realised and even exceeded with the correct level of coaching and mentoring, targeted at the right people, time and place.

Operational success

Left to their own devices a new candidate and the installed team will take up to 3 months to fully integrate and become truly effective to the organisation. The first 6 weeks will find the candidate isolated and floundering to find knowledge and develop new skills on his own initiative whilst the installed team circle around them, sizing and testing this new guy. No organisation can afford to wait that long for a return, especially if it is ‘disappointing’. If you are left wondering why the increase in numbers does not relate to a direct increase in revenue, we have the answers for you. We will be happy to support you. Contact me on kenwbudd@lycos.co.uk

Team integration issues - example

As a new start, it is at this time the candidate will bond with, or be be-friended by, one or some of the team but not all. This may not be with the positive thinking, forward thinking group that you would want them to join. In fact it is more likely to be with other members of the team that have become isolated and withdrawn.

If this trend continues then the team dynamics will start to move in the wrong direction, because every new candidate will be drawn to, recruited by or be-friended by, the ‘outsiders’. The team will start to experience a new division instead of an integration. A divided team is very un-focused, difficult to re-unite and the devil to manage effectively.

Cause and effect

Circumstances like this lead to overloading or repeated distraction of the next level of management, keeping them away from their core activities. Instead they find themselves increasingly involved in ‘territorial’ disputes and trivial ‘personality’ clashes. The intended growth of the organisation is diverted or worse, stalled and, because of the push on recruiting and taking on of new staff, suddenly you now have greater overheads.Unless rectified the company is heading for a self-destructive downward spiral.

Your operational managers are faced with issues that began a long time back and have now become established and possibly cultural. In the words of the Irish philosophers ‘If you were trying to get to Dublin city quickly, I would not have started from here!’