Human Nature Under Scarcity

Free5-8 hours8 lessons

What You Will Gain

After this course, you will be able to detect the difference between what people say and what they actually value, and understand why human behavior follows predictable patterns under constraint.

About This Course

People behave according to what they bear costs for. This course teaches the evolutionary foundations of human behavior: status competition, kin selection, coalition formation, signaling, time preference, and the strategies that keep cooperation fragile. You must understand acquisition before cooperation makes sense.

Curriculum

01
Why Do People Compete for Status?
Concept: Dominance Hierarchies
Apply Exercise
02
Why Do People Favor Family?
Concept: Kin Selection
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03
Why Do Friend Groups Form?
Concept: Coalition Formation
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04
Why Do People Care About Reputation?
Concept: Signaling
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05
Why Do Some People Focus on the Present?
Concept: Time Preference and Uncertainty
Apply Exercise
06
Why Do Some People Cheat?
Concept: Evolutionary Strategies
Apply Exercise
07
Why Do People Display Success?
Concept: Status Competition
Apply Exercise
08
Why Do People Cooperate Despite Competition?
Concept: Behavior Under Scarcity
Apply Exercise

Capstone Project

Produce a behavior profile of one recurring social situation you experience directly. Map the hierarchy, coalitions, signals, time-preference patterns, and competition strategies at work. Make visible the incentive structures that drive the behavior of real people in a context you know well.

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Foundation Bundle

All 4 courses in this tier for $149.

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