Human Survival
Field Guide.

SIX PUBLISHED SOURCES / FINDINGS, LIMITS AND CREATIVE APPLICATIONS Research Ledger / 01

Research informs the questions; the fictional cast remains an artistic framework.

E01 / COOPERATION HAS CONDITIONS

Five rules for the evolution of cooperation (2006)

Martin A. Nowak. Science, 314(5805), 1560-1563.

doi:10.1126/science.1133755

Finding: The paper describes five mechanisms through which cooperation can evolve under specified conditions: kin selection, direct reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, network reciprocity and group selection.

Limit: These are evolutionary models with assumptions, not a genetic classification of people or an instruction about how anyone must behave.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: ask what arrangement makes cooperation workable. The characters illustrate choices within an arrangement; they do not identify genes or biological kinds of people.

E02 / HELP IS PART OF THE PICTURE

Altruistic helping in human infants and young chimpanzees (2006)

Felix Warneken; Michael Tomasello. Science, 311(5765), 1301-1303.

doi:10.1126/science.1121448

Finding: In the reported tasks, children as young as eighteen months helped others achieve goals across different situations. The authors also investigated helping in young chimpanzees.

Limit: Specific developmental tasks do not establish that everyone always helps, explain every motive for help, or validate a personality taxonomy.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: ordinary need, dependence and receiving help should remain distinct from repeatedly ignoring an agreement. The Human Leech is a fictional pattern of overuse, not a label for needing care.

E03 / A PREFERRED ANSWER CAN GUIDE THE SEARCH

The Case for Motivated Reasoning (1990)

Ziva Kunda. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 480-498.

doi:10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480

Finding: Kunda argues that desired conclusions can influence how people retrieve, construct and assess beliefs, while the need for a plausible justification constrains the conclusion they can reach.

Limit: This is a review and theoretical argument, not a new experiment or a method for diagnosing dishonesty in a particular person.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: the Clue Collector can ask what would change its mind, and the observer can ask the same question. The practice is an editorial adaptation, not a tested treatment.