Summary of Game theory can explain humanity’s biggest problem | Steven Pinker
The video featuring Steven Pinker discusses the challenges humanity faces and how game theory can provide insights into these issues. Key scientific concepts and phenomena presented include:
- Enlightenment Ideals: The belief that knowledge can improve human well-being is not natural and has only recently become more accepted.
- Tragedy of the Commons: A game-theoretical situation where individual rational actions lead to collective negative outcomes. Examples include:
- Choosing to drive an SUV instead of waiting for a bus in the rain, which contributes to climate change.
- The social dynamics where individuals conform to group beliefs for acceptance, leading to societal polarization instead of a collective search for truth.
- Progress in Rationality: Civilization tends to gradually move towards greater rationality, evidenced by the marginalization of superstitions and the advancement of Humanistic Values over time. Notable progress includes:
- Abolishment of slavery
- Women's suffrage
- Acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights
- Desegregation of schools
- Humanistic Values: These values appeal to common human interests (e.g., the desire to be alive, healthy, and educated) and serve as a foundation for negotiation and cooperation despite differences in race, religion, or nationality.
Researchers or Sources Featured:
Notable Quotes
— 00:46 — « The war in Ukraine, another bloating of enlightenment values: the idea that the ultimate good is the lives of people. »
— 01:06 — « We're not wired for enlightenment humanism, but nonetheless, we ought to endorse it. »
— 02:00 — « If everyone thinks that, then we're all in danger of being cooked. »
— 03:37 — « Humanistic values have a kind of built-in advantage when you think about them in that they're the only things that you can defend when you have a negotiation with someone who is like you. »
— 04:09 — « It's not particularly intuitive, but it always has that built-in advantage. »
Category
Science and Nature