EMERGENT SOCIAL RATIONALITY IN A PEER-TO-PEER SYSTEM

Andrea Marcozzi () and David Hales ()
Additional contact information
Andrea Marcozzi: Department of Computer Science, University of Bologna, Mura Anteo Zamboni 7, 40127 Bologna, Italy
David Hales: Department of Computer Science, University of Bologna, Mura Anteo Zamboni 7, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2008, vol. 11, issue 04, 581-595

Abstract: Many peer-to-peer (P2P) applications require that nodes behave altruistically in order to perform tasks collectively. Here we examine a class of simple protocols that aim to self-organize P2P networks into clusters of altruistic nodes that help each other to complete jobs requiring diverse skills. We introduce a variant (called ResourceWorld) of an existing model (called SkillWorld) and compare results obtained in extensive (ten billion interactions) simulation experiments. It was found that for both model variants altruistic behavior was selected when certain cost/benefit constraints were met. Specifically, ResourceWorld selects for altruism only when the collective benefit of an action is at least as high as the individual cost. This gives a minimal method for realizing so-called "social rationality," where nodes select behaviors for the good of the collective even though actions are based on individual greedy utility maximization. Interestingly, the SkillWorld model evidences a kind ofsuperaltruismin which nodes are prepared to cooperate even when the cost is higher than the benefit.

Keywords: P2P; social rationality; cooperation; emergent structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525908001787
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:11:y:2008:i:04:n:s0219525908001787

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0219525908001787

Access Statistics for this article

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) is currently edited by Frank Schweitzer

More articles in Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().