This week we explore new research on different factors driving cooperation and why men are so weird around women.

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Research Roundup

Memory, Neighbors, Institutions  → Cooperation

Paradox: cooperation is better for everyone, but gaming the system is better for individuals. So, how do we foster cooperation? Memory, neighbors, and institutions.

When we play repeated games like the Prisoners’ Dilemma, cheating helps individuals but is bad for the group. A trio of recent papers explores how to change this. One case using “evolutionary simulations” to explore “several key parameters” showed that a “longer memory tends to promote cooperation”, and this effect is “particularly pronounced when individuals take into account the precise sequence of moves.”

What if we take not just time but also space into account? It turns out certain social networks structure, even with “low initial cooperation” and “high temptation of defection”, will always lead to cooperation spreading across the whole population. It may not surprise you that these are not the social networks we have today.

Finally, memory and network structure can be dramatically augmented by institutions designed to pool and share reputation in cooperative games. As the authors put it, “institutions act as cooperative pulleys, transforming initially weak reputational incentives into powerful drivers of cooperative behavior”.

Building communities and organizations rich in active cooperation requires intentional development of these three key ingredients.

Adding Women

We shift from rational human to status-obsessed primate far more often than we would like to admit—usually in the worst possible situations.

Although “integrating women into previously all-male units does not negatively affect men’s performance or behavioral outcomes, including retention, promotions, demotions, separations for misconduct, criminal charges, and medical conditions”, male soldiers perceive a drop in “workplace quality…driven by units…with a woman in a position of authority.” There is no “I” in “team”, but apparently there is a bruised male ego…

That negative perception has consequences for women in leadership, particularly when there are no other women present. There is an obvious solution: an analysis of “digitized information from the minutes of over 40,000 city-council meetings” found that “when a lone woman is joined by a female colleague, she participates more actively by proposing more motions.”

Understanding why our brains betray us in situations like these is why I began researching the neuroscience of trust. Now I’m researching how interbrain synchrony might help us become more human. (Yes, my answer to everything is “more cyborgs”.)

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Weekly Indulgence

This trip to Shenzhen was an eye-opening highlight of my speaking career. They were hungry for insights about how AI would change education, but not just that…they wanted to understand how it could change people.

(p.s. I think that 2-story screen behind me was installed 10 seconds before I walked on stage.)

My 2025 speaking schedule is filling up. If you or your organization are looking for “the best talk you’ve ever heard,” reach out to book a keynote.

Stage & Screen

• January, LA: I wish I could say more...some day :)
• January, Toronto: University of Toronto AI Day!
• February, Dublin: A private event but I know we'll do much more
• February, Athens: Medical school education
• March, SF: Entrepreneurs, throw off the shackles of conformity!
• May, Porto: Innovation in Portugal.
• June, South Africa: Finally I can return. Are you in SA? Book me!
• June, SF: Golden Angels
• October, UK: More med school education

If your company, university, or conference just happen to be in one of the above locations and want the "best keynote I've ever heard" (shockingly spoken by multiple audiences last year)?

SciFi, Fantasy, & Me

Given all of its accolades I feel like I should be writing about Ministry of Time, but…Goonies meets Luke Skywalker is the pick for me. It’s not just the fun of Skeleton Crew that makes it worth the attention, the kids are fun and well-developed. And I definitely want to know more about Jude Law’s Jedi pirate!

Vivienne L'Ecuyer Ming