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Simple moral code supports cooperation

The evolution of cooperation is a frequently debated topic. A study assessing scenarios in which people judge each other shows that a simple moral rule suffices to drive the evolution of cooperation.
  1. Charles Efferson

    1. Charles Efferson is in the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK.

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  2. Ernst Fehr

    1. Ernst Fehr is in the Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8006, Switzerland.

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The evolution of cooperation hinges on the benefits of cooperation being shared among those who cooperate1. In a paper in Nature, Santos et al.2 investigate the evolution of cooperation using computer-based modelling analyses, and they identify a rule for moral judgements that provides an especially powerful system to drive cooperation.

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Nature 555, 169-170 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-02621-x

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