A central puzzle in evolutionary biology is that of spontaneous altruism. When two creatures interact, why might one sacrifice something of value in order to help the other? Why, if I’m rich, might I want to help the poor? In one view of the problem, there’s no good reason for it. By giving, I become poorer. Why would I want that? Naturally, there’s another view — one which takes advantage of the ergodicity concept — which says it’s not so much about zero-sum giving and receiving ...| Ergodicity Economics
The business of insurance, by various measures, is the largest industry on earth. Somewhat surprisingly, mainstream economics struggles to explain its existence. This post is about how ergodicity economics approaches the subject, which leads to a glimpse into complexity theory and the emergence of social structures of all sorts. It follows a recent editorial in Annals of Actuarial Science.| Ergodicity Economics