Shall we turn off the media? Global information can destroy local cooperation in the one-dimensional ring

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the evolution of cooperation when the interaction structure is strictly local, and hence fitness only depends on local behaviors, while the competition structure is partly global, and hence selection can happen also between distant agents. We explore this novel setup by means of numerical simulations in a model where agents are arranged in a one-dimensional ring. Preliminary results suggest that the extent of global comparison systematically favors defection under strong selection, while its effect under weak selection is less systematic, but overall still favors defection. Further, the extent of global comparison seems to reduce sensibly fixation times.