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The robot, the party animal and the philosopher: an evolutionary perspective on deliberation and preference

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  • Peter E. Earl

Abstract

This paper examines the evolutionary fitness of a variety of ways of reaching decisions in early hunter-gatherer societies, in order to derive insights about how economists should view modern consumers. It challenges conclusions reached by mainstream economists Robson, Rayo and Becker about why hunter-gatherers needed sensory rewards and about the kinds of preference systems that would have conferred evolutionary fitness. It argues that evolution favours those with a variety of ways of reaching decisions—programmed, deliberative, intuitive and 'go with the flow'—and that the prospect of sensory rewards serves an evolutionary role by diverting people from thinking too much about what they are doing in situations in which deliberation might interfere with survival or reproduction. The evolutionary role of a reluctance or failure to make trade-offs is also considered along with the benefits of developing a relatively fixed identity rather than being 'all things to all men'. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

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  • Peter E. Earl, 2013. "The robot, the party animal and the philosopher: an evolutionary perspective on deliberation and preference," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(6), pages 1263-1282.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:37:y:2013:i:6:p:1263-1282
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bet046
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    Cited by:

    1. Clement Allan Tisdell & Serge Svizzero, 2017. "Optimization Theories of the Transition from Foraging to Agriculture: A Critical Assessment and Proposed Alternatives," Post-Print hal-02145490, HAL.
    2. Clement Allan Tisdell & Serge Svizzero, 2016. "Different Behavioral Explanations of the Neolithic Transition from Foraging to Agriculture: A Review," Working Papers hal-02147758, HAL.
    3. Jason Potts, 2017. "Institutions hold consumption on a leash: an evolutionary economic approach to the future of consumption," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 239-250, April.

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