selfishness

Game theory, the mathematical theory of games of strategy, was developed by John von Neumann in several successive stages in 1928 and 1940-41, according to his book Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour which he co-authored with Oskar Morgenstern.

This week Jon Atack and Sam Atack joined me to discuss their new videos series Think Like a Cult Leader. Jon and Sam described how their criteria for being a “successful cult leader” matches up with so many people currently in positions of power today. We also talked about Sam’s prank creation his own cult […]

by NoahJohn Kenneth Galbraith was one of the very top go to economists in the world 40 to 60 years ago. He may have been right about the conservatives of his day but today's conservatives do not even bother with the pretense of searching for "moral justification" or anything similar.

Suicide is now the United States’ 10th leading cause of death. It is also one of only three causes of death in the US that are increasing (Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdose are the other two).

Best known for his Chronicles of Narnia series, author C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is decidedly different. The demon Wormwood is working on a particular human, a man known just as "the patient." He seeks his uncle Screwtape's advice on how to tempt the man into sin and ultimately lose his soul to "our Father below." Screwtape's tips for destroying the morality of humanity are much more subtle than you'd expect, and they sound surprisingly like Ayn Rand.

We often feel bad about cheating the system or good about giving to charity, but how fundamental is altruism? George Constable and Tim Rogers explain how altruism brings good luck (in evolutionary biology, at least)The post Debunking the selfish myth appeared first on Positive News.