Why Punishing Cheaters is Important for Cooperation
After several studies on why lying is an important advantage in personal mental development, we have research that describes how cooperation evolved from our social need to punish cheaters. To me, this is a great example of game theory in that what benefits us personally would not benefit society if adopted by everyone. So, we are willing to tolerate leaders who lie well as long as the society benefits but we curb the leader’s self-interest once society suffers. Fascinating dynamic tension in play here.
Tags: cooperation, lying, punishing cheaters