Systematic Errors and the Theory of Natural Selection

Michael Waldman

American Economic Review, 1994, vol. 84, issue 3, 482-97

Abstract: This paper derives two main results. First, in a world where inheritance is sexual as opposed to asexual, second-best adaptations can be evolutionarily stable. That is, the adaptation selected need not be the optimal solution to the evolutionary problem at hand. Second, the author applies this result to show that natural selection provides a potential explanation for why, in many settings, humans commit errors that are systematic in nature. Copyright 1994 by American Economic Association.

Date: 1994
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