#141 Moshe Hoffman: Game Theory, Norm Enforcement, and Evolutionary Psychology
Dr. Moshe Hoffman is a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab & Lecturer at Harvard’s Department of Economics. He applies game theory, models of learning and evolution, and experimental methods, to try to decipher the (often subconscious and subtle) incentives that shape our social behavior, preferences, and ideologies. Dr. Hoffman obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and his B.S. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He also co-designed and teaches “Game Theory and Social Behavior” which lays out a lot of the evidence and models behind this approach.
In this episode, we talk about Game Theory. We first establish the aspects of behavior Game Theory studies, and how it does it, referring to strategies of social interaction studied by Robert Axelrod, which Richard Dawkins talks about in The Selfish Gene. In the second part of the interview, we go through the critiques that Dr. Hoffman made of Evolutionary Psychology (https://twitter.com/Moshe_Hoffman/status/1073270050809937923), focusing on aesthetics, religion, and social norms and morality.
Time Links:
What is game theory, and how it works
Evolved strategies and environmental cues
Dawkins, Axelrod, The Selfish Gene, and strategies of social interaction
The evolution of cooperation and altruism
Norm enforcement
Evolutionary Psychology (EP)
What Dr. Hoffman thinks EP gets wrong – pre-adaptations
Beauty, aesthetics, and artistic behavior
Extrinsic properties and social aspects of art
Conspicuous consumption
Religion, and other by-products of mental adaptations
How social norms evolve, and the case of Chinese foot-binding
Innate cognition and cultural evolution
Emergent properties and “novel” strategies of the mind
Follow Dr. Hoffman’s work!
Follow Dr. Hoffman’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/y7g2ubal
Personal website: https://tinyurl.com/yboyxvxu
Articles on Researchgate: https://tinyurl.com/ybxwknfs
Twitter handle: @Moshe_Hoffman
Twitter thread on Evolutionary Psychology: https://twitter.com/Moshe_Hoffman/status/1073270050809937923