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An optimal brain can be composed of conflicting agents

  1. Adi Livnat * , and
  2. Nicholas Pippenger
  1. *Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and
  2. Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
  1. Communicated by Simon A. Levin, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, December 18, 2005 (received for review September 16, 2005)

Abstract

Many behaviors have been attributed to internal conflict within the animal and human mind. However, internal conflict has not been reconciled with evolutionary principles, in that it appears maladaptive relative to a seamless decision-making process. We study this problem through a mathematical analysis of decision-making structures. We find that, under natural physiological limitations, an optimal decision-making system can involve “selfish” agents that are in conflict with one another, even though the system is designed for a single purpose. It follows that conflict can emerge within a collective even when natural selection acts on the level of the collective only.

Footnotes

  • To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alivnat{at}princeton.edu
  • Author contributions: A.L. and N.P. designed research, performed research, contributed new reagents/analytic tools, and wrote the paper.

  • Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

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