Director of UQ Centre for Unified Behavioural and Economic Sciences. Editor of the Journal of the Economic Science Association. Book: ‘Optimally Irrational’, Substack: https://www.optimallyirrational.com/
Lionel Page
One of the most important insights of game theory is that cooperation is often rational. Indeed, it helps us understand why cooperation exists and how it works in practice.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/the-game-t...
Fairness is not some mysterious moral force binding our actions. It is a social solution to a pervasive problem: once cooperation creates gains, who gets what? www.optimallyirrational.com/p/what-is-fa...
How do we agree on what is “fair” without endless haggling?
A post on the psychology and game theory of fairness, with a solution to the egalitarian vs utilitarian debate.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/how-we-dec...
Evolution is often framed as a cosmic struggle of all against all. Yet everything we observe about life is the product of cooperation. Understanding how cooperation is sustained is a key insight for thinking about how to organise society.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperatio...
Kant is notoriously hard to read. Here I explain his moral philosophy simply, and I criticise it, drawing on the careful thinking about rationality forged in game theory.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/dekanting-...
If morality is fundamentally a human affair, then game theory provides a framework that explains morality, argues @lionelpage.bsky.social in the latest instalment of his series on human morality:
buff.ly/X5QMJTi
Robert Trivers, a theoretical genius and likely the Einstein of evolutionary biology, passed away. His theories of reciprocal altruism, parental investment, and self deception are among the deepest and most encompassing in the social sciences. Great post on them by @lionelpage.bsky.social
Toddlers effortlessly recognize unfairness when they see it—yet agreeing with others what is, and isn’t, fair eludes even learned scholars.
@lionelpage.bsky.social wisely avoids trying to definitively define fairness, but digs into how we seek agreement about it:
buff.ly/W2SRDsR
“In several key contributions, Trivers helped lift the veil on the underlying logic of human behaviour.”
@lionelpage.bsky.social reviews the work of the scientist deservedly characterized as Darwin’s heir, Robert Trivers, who died two weeks ago:
buff.ly/YsCN41T
