The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration (Princeton Studies in Complexity) [Hardcover]

Robert Axelrod (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Studies in Complexity | Publication Date: September 1997

A collection of seven essays that serves as an introductory text on complexity theory and computer modelling in the social sciences, and as an overview of the current state of the art in this field. The articles move beyond the basic paradigm of the "Prisoner's Dilemma" to study a rich set of issues, including how to cope with errors in perception or implementation, how norms emerge, and how political actors and regions of shared culture can develop. They use the shared methodology of agent-based modelling, a technique that specifies the rules of interaction between individuals and uses computer simulation to discover emergent properties of the social system.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Robert Axelrod's extraordinary book, The Evolution of Cooperation was globally acclaimed for the rich results of its simple model. The Complexity of Cooperation now gathers together the myriad fruits of more than a decade's work, carefully 'complexifying' his initial model. Like his ideas, his prose is clear and engaging. His delight as he unveils each surprising discovery is infectious. This book is not merely important; it's fun." -- Robert D. Putnam, author of Making Democracy Work

From the Back Cover

"Robert Axelrod's extraordinary book, The Evolution of Cooperation was globally acclaimed for the rich results of its simple model. The Complexity of Cooperation now gathers together the myriad fruits of more than a decade's work, carefully 'complexifying' his initial model. Like his ideas, his prose is clear and engaging. His delight as he unveils each surprising discovery is infectious. This book is not merely important; it's fun."--Robert D. Putnam, author of Making Democracy Work

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691015686
• ISBN-13: 978-0691015682
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,392,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Companion to'The Evolution of Cooperation', September 25, 2003

By 

William Bennett (tucson, arizona United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration (Paperback)

This books covers what Robert Axelrod been up to since "The Evolution of Cooperation." Extensions to the original "Prisoner's Dilemma" have required new agent behaviors for stable solutions.

"Coping with Noise" deals with agents that make mistakes in their defections and cooperation.

"Promoting Norms" covers the fact that pure self-interest isn't a stable strategy and to promote stability requires norms - common behaviors among agents. The most interesting result from his work is NOT that agents should punish defectors - that is intuitive - but agents who DON'T punish defectors (of norms) must be "persuaded" to punish defectors to keep the norm stable. I guess we all need both the carrot and stick!

"Choosing Sides" covers landscape theory - the creation of population aggregates because similar agents tend to clump together.

There are other interesting sections and I like this book. I would normally give a five to this book; however, this is also a thin book. If there were more coverage of the material and a more in depth discussion of other peoples work, I would have given it a five.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agent based models of Cooperation, January 21, 2009

By 

G. Watson "Associate Professor" (Edwardsville, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration (Paperback)

Axlerod's first book elucidated the "prisoner's dilemma" and why cooperation might be in our best interest. This book, an excellent follow on, does two things exceptionally well. First, it outlines a theory by which one can frame and think about the considerations agents take into account when cooperating and collaborating. From this point, it instantiates those theories with well thought examples of the theory. The second aspect that is remarkably useful for many, is the breadth of the examples. For example, Axlerod describes models that simulate emerging alliances among nations in World War II, as well as patterns in the dissemination of culture and norms. Axlerod's writing style is easy to follow and, in a field where complexity is typically described with long equations in set theory and logic, he avoids the proof through advanced math and provides access to these issues especially approriate for the novice. If one searches the internet you can find Axlerod's website, where the actual code and brief documentation is available for download, for both teaching and personal learning. Of course there are also two major weaknesses in the book. Because of this diversity of topics there is no developmental thread running through the book and the resource appendix is abysmal, but overall you can't do better for this topic.

15 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read, November 16, 2003

By 

"kenny__mccormick" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration (Paperback)

A sequel to his prior book, "the evolution of cooperation".
Iterated prisoner's dilemma is the center of this book,
with a particular focus on the collaboration in the interests of competiion.

No mathmatical background required and usefull referenced included.