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Supercooperators: The mathematics of evolution, altruism and human behaviour

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM (GMT)

London, United Kingdom

Supercooperators: The mathematics of evolution, altruism...

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RSA Keynote

Everyone is familiar with Darwin's revolutionary idea about the survival of the fittest, and most people agree that it works - but Darwin's famous theory has one major chink. If life is about survival of the fittest, then why would we risk our own life to jump into a river to save a stranger?

Some people argue that issues such as charity, fairness, forgiveness and cooperation are evolutionary loose ends, side issues that are of little consequence. But as Harvard's celebrated evolutionary biologist Professor Martin Nowak explains - cooperation is central to the four-billion-year-old puzzle of life.

Cooperation is fundamental to how molecules in the primordial soup crossed the watershed that separates dead chemistry from biochemistry.

Cooperation is the key to understanding why language evolved, an event that is as significant as the evolution of the first primitive organism.

And it goes without saying that cooperation is the reason that people live in towns, villages and cities. Cooperation can even help to explain the spread of cancer cells and the role of punishment in society.

Twitter logoSuggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsanowak

When & Where


Durham House Street entrance
WC2N 6EZ London
United Kingdom

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM (GMT)


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