Chimp’s Dilemma
“Two unrelated tamarin monkeys sit adjoining each other. Every fifteen seconds, a human research assistant brings a tray loaded with a marshmallow that is just out of reach of one of the monkeys. The only way that monkey can eat the treat is if his partner pulls a red handle that will put the marshmallow within reach.
But pulling the handle doesn’t bring any reward for the puller: pulling the handle only pays if the monkey who receives the marshmallow reciprocates by pulling in the future. Like many human situations, the monkeys must work together to obtain food and build trust while punishing failures to cooperate.” [Freakonomics via Boing Boing]
A prisoner’s dilemma for monkeys? Why subject poor monkeys to difficult decisions when you can easily find humans that easily pass off as chimps?
“Chimp’s Dilemma” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=735] was published Tuesday, June 7th, 2005 at 9:00 pm by Patrix, filed under Philosophy, Science, and tagged as Philosophy, Science. Both comments and linkbacks are closed.
