Simulating the Social Contract

• Skyrms answer to the descriptive question (how does order evolve?) of the social contract:

• How much progress have we made in addressing the fundamental question of the social contract: “How can you get from the noncooperative hare hunting equilibrium to the cooperative stag hunt equilibrium?” The outlines of a general answer have begun to emerge. Over time there is some low level of experimentation with stag hunting. Eventually a small group of stag hunters comes to interact largely or exclusively with each other. This can come to pass through pure chance and the passage of time in a situation of interaction with neighbors. ... The small group of stag hunters prospers and can spread by reproduction and imitation. The process is facilitated if reproduction or imitation neighborhoods are larger than interaction neighborhoods. (Skyrms, 2004)