'Snowdrift' game tops 'Prisoner's Dilemma' in explaining cooperation

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Photo caption: In the Snowdrift Game individuals gain direct benefits from cooperative acts which may indicate why cooperation is favored by natural selection. (Photo of 1977 blizzard in Buffalo New York)
Photo caption: In the Snowdrift Game, individuals gain direct benefits from cooperative acts, which may indicate why cooperation is favored by natural selection. (Photo of 1977 blizzard in Buffalo, New York)

When it comes to explaining the evolution of human cooperation, researchers have traditionally looked to the iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (IPD) game as the paradigm. However, the observed degree of cooperation among humans is generally higher than predicted by mathematical models using the IPD, leaving unanswered the question of why humans cooperate to the extent they do.


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