Abstract

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Title:: Cooperation Based on Bounded Rationality: A Perspective forUnderstanding Human Cooperative Behavior

Keywords:: cooperative behavior; rationality; bounded rationality; social heuristic

Abstract:: The traditional studies on human cooperative behavior, which were premised upon the hypothesisof economic man in economics and the theory of evolution in biology, drew such conclusions as“ survival ofthe fittest” and“ the Nash equilibrium” , thus painting a gloomy picture of human cooperation. The sundrytheories based on such conclusions concerningthe choices made by the individual and the society as well as thecollective action have become the basic principle governing the public administration and social governance.However, this view faces insurmountable difficulties in both theory and practice, which are known as“ dilemmaof collective action” ,“ cooperative or social dilemma” and“ myth of human cooperation” . The theory ofbounded rationality in contemporary cognitive psychology and the social heuristics developed accordinglycan well inform the settlement of such difficulties. On this basis, we propose a perspective on cooperationbased on bounded rationality, from which the true nature of human cooperation can be revealed and the mythsurrounding it exposed.