The Survival Game: How Game Theory Explains the Biology of Cooperation and Competition

An accessible intriguing explanation of game theory . . . that can help explain much human behavior. -Seattle Post-Intelligencer Humans like bacteria woodchucks chimpanzees and other animals compete or cooperate in order to get food shelter territory and other resources to survive. But how do they decide whether to muscle out or team up with the competition?In The Survival Game David P. Barash synthesizes the newest ideas from psychology economics and biology to explore and explain the roots of human strategy. Drawing on game theory-the study of how individuals make decisions-he explores the give-and-take of spouses in determining an evenings plans the behavior of investors in a market bubble and the maneuvers of generals on a battlefield alongside the mating and fighting strategies of less rational animals. Ultimately Barashs lively and clear examples shed light on what makes our decisions human and what we can glean from game theory and the natural world as we negotiate and compete every day.