Applied PGR Seminar - Do Psychopathic People Help Us To Survive? Martina Testori (Southampton) Seminar
- Time:
- 16:00 - 17:00
- Date:
- 27 April 2018
- Venue:
- Room 4001, Ketley Room, Building 54, Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, SO17 1BJ
For more information regarding this seminar, please email Joan Garcia Torno at jgt1e15@southampton.ac.uk .
Event details
I investigate how individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits might contribute to community survival in various environments. Psychopaths are described as heartless, unresponsive in interpersonal relations, rational, egoistic and successful players of economic games. However, they are also depicted as slow learners, callous and indifferent to punishment.
I simulate the evolution of populations that include highly psychopathic individuals using evolutionary game theory to see whether the presence of such individuals can have a positive impact on survival.
Preliminary results show that community starting with a higher proportion of psychopaths are able to survive in harsher environments. Hence, the presence of psychopaths appears to provide a benefit to the community. I explore the trade-off between the dynamics in the game that leads to these opposing results and investigate how changes in the environment over time can favour different community compositions.
Speaker information
Martina Testori , University of Southampton.