Eric Schnell
Cultural evolution • evolutionary game theory • computational social science
I study how cooperation scales in human societies. My research combines formal modelling, cultural evolution and computational social science to understand how social norms, institutions, competition, reputation and social networks shape collective behaviour.
I recently received my PhD from the London School of Economics in the department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and currently on the job market.
Selected Publications
Indirect reciprocity undermines indirect reciprocity destabilizing large-scale cooperation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A model showing that indirect reciprocity can destabilize large-scale cooperation by prioritizing local interactions. This model explains phenomena such as corruption and nepotism not as failures of cooperation, but effective cooperation at one scale that harms another scale.
The Cooperation Ladder: Scale-dependent payoffs and population dynamics create surges, stalls and reversals
Preprint
A model of the expansion of cooperation explaining how societies scale from small-scale cooperation to large-scale cooperation. Interlinked population dynamics and drive for energy capture create a ratcheting effect enabling the incremental growth of cooperation.