Mental Model of Dynamic Systems
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Synonyms Social brain, Social intelligence
Sometimes the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis is called the social brain or social intelligence. The association with Niccolo` Machiavelli, an early sixteenth century Italian official and thinker is but literary. Machiavelli made no study of primates nor of brain evolution. However, Frans de Waal in his Chimpanzee politics (1982) quotes Machiavelli’s works. De Waals found some of Machiavelli’s insights into the capacity of some Renaissance politicians to operate on several levels at once – altruistic and selfish, devout and nationalistic, grasping and strategic at the same time – captured some of the interaction among the chimps he observed. The name stuck.
Definition Elaborated originally in the study of primates, the “Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis” (Byrne and Whiten 1988, 1997) is that the large brains of humans grew over the millennia because of intense social competition for reproduction. Competitors evolved ever more complex strategies and tactics to achieve social dominance with consequent reproductive success. This hypothesis interprets even seemingly altruistic acts in primates as self-interested cunning.
Theoretical Background The Hypothesis explains why primates have such large brains, far larger than that of other beasts of a similar size, far larger than necessary for most of their day-to-day lives. The brain size is puzzling because brains are expensive and fragile. They consume a great deal of energy; they are vulnerable to injury. What enlarged brain size brings is the capacity to interact socially and to remember previous social encounters (Humphrey 1976). Brains allow primates to learn how to interact socially and for that learning to evolve. The Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis is that large brains enabled primates to establish social relations based in part on the shared past. They learn from their interactions with each other and they retain that knowledge. We humans come after thousands of generations of that evolution in our forerunners.
Important Scientific Research and Open Questions The term Machiavellian intelligence is now used to explain patterns of behavior far beyond both humans and primates. Dolphins, elephants, and fish, among other creatures, have had the Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis applied to their behavior (Bshary 2006). In addition, the term is sometimes found in the study of artificial intelligence (Gordon 2001). A search on the Web of Science today will harvest many references across evolutionary biology, primate studies, and artificial intelligence.
Cross-References ▶ Animal Culture ▶ Animal Learning and Intelligence ▶ Artificial Intelligence ▶ Goodall, Jane ▶ Human–Robot Interaction
References Bshary, R. (2006). Machiavellian intelligence in fishes. In C. Brown, K. Laland, & J. Krause (Eds.), Fish cognition and behaviour (pp. 223–242). Oxford: Blackwell. Byrne, R. W., & Whiten, A. (1988). Machiavellian intelligence: Social expertise and the evolution of intellect in monkeys, apes, and humans. Oxford
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