cooperation

Ants outperform humans at group puzzle-solving activity

Ants may have tiny brains, but when it comes to teamwork, they pack a mighty punch.

New four-legged robots designed to work together to accomplish difficult tasks

Teamwork makes the dream work.

The origin of empathy might lie in the need to simulate other people's thoughts

Empathy basically evolve in order to "mind read" other people.

Desert ants' complex behavior is actually built from very simple interactions

The colonies work similarly to a brain, actually.

Seven traits are seen as moral by the whole world, study finds

It's good to be good.

Bonobo food-sharing points to evolutionary origin of human generosity

Generosity helped our species thrive -- but we are not alone in the animal kingdom.

Australian wrens recognize friends from other species and work together with them

It's the first time we've seen inter-species cooperation in birds.

Rats trade with each other and are surprisingly fair, research finds

Hey, kid! Psss, kid! Wanna buy some cheese?

Mice will pick social rules over might-makes-right, hinting at the birth of human societies and laws

The basis of any civilized society.

Wolves are better team players than dogs, study reveals, casting doubt on our view of domestication

A wild streak makes them better at cooperating, the team reports.

Bacterial communities take turns to eat when food becomes scarce

Aww, they have tiny economic agreements, ain't that cute?

Unlikely cooperation: Coyote and badger spotted hunting together

They're cute, smart, and extremely dangerous.

Chimps and Bonobos use sounds and gestures back-and-forth, mimicking human conversation

A conversation is a two-way street where cooperation is paramount, and humans aren't the only great apes that put it to good use.

How motivation influences cooperation: would you open the 'envelope'?

Here's a question: what's the difference between actor Sean Penn and the charitable Mother Theresa? Bear with me for a second. Here's a bit of context: following the onslaught left by Hurricane Katrina, Penn hurried to New Orleans to aid victims. Allegedly has has personally saved 40 people. Today, however, he's scorned and mocked of because he also brought a camera crew and publicist along for the ride to document his humanitarian effort. Both Mother Theresa and Sean Penn have engaged in what can be described as humanitarian aid, yet one's seen as a saint, while the other is made fun of. The key difference is motivation and now game theory may finally be able to account for it.

Common knowledge makes people more cooperative

It seems quite intuitive, but scientists have officially proved it – sharing common knowledge with someone makes you more likely to cooperate with him. This provides valuable insight into how altruism works, and how groups can cooperate towards a common goal. There have been plenty of studies into altruism, but fewer have studied its lesser […]

Humans are wired to be good in nature - cooperation outweighs selfishness

There’s an age long question that even some of history’s greatest free thinkers, philosophers and theologists haven’t been able to answer – are humans good in nature? Many have tried to seek answers to this riddling puzzle, and for many the conclusion was a gloomy one – that man is simply doomed to stray the […]

Humans are naturally inclined towards generosity - faster, spontaneous decisions are generous, well thought ones are selfish

Cooperation is central to human social behavior. Back in the early, dawning days of humanity, we were inferior from nearly every point of view, and cooperation was mainly what brought us to the dominating species status we have today. But choosing to cooperate with others, while always benefic for the group, often requires individuals to […]