Humans aren’t as cooperative as we thought, but they make up for it via stupidity

(credit: New Line Cinema)

Lots of economic theory is based on the idea that humans will naturally seek to maximize their profits, but is that really the case? The field of behavioral economics involves a variety of attempts to find out. Things like game theory are used to create simplified economic systems in which people's behavior can be tracked.

A number of results indicate that some people do in fact behave as selfish, profit-maximizing individuals. But many others behave more altruistically, forging cooperative relationships in order to obtain greater benefits.

Or so it appeared. A group of Oxford researchers has now published a study in which they looked a bit more carefully at the people who were taking these tests, discovering that they'd be just as altruistic toward a computer. And that's probably because most of them simply don't understand the rules of the game they're playing.