Paul Hooper, Santa Fe Institute

Title: Evolution of Intergenerational Transfers
Abstract: During graduate school, I made a detailed documentation of intergenerational transfers among forager-horticulturalists living in Bolivian Amazonia. The networks of investment that I observed spurred me to develop an evolutionary model of intergenerational transfers based on inclusive fitness and relative benefits (need) and costs. The model turned out to work remarkably well in predicting transfers within and between families. I'll discuss how this model is more broadly relevant for understanding the evolution of human life histories, including longevity, length of dependence, age-schedule of fertility, and demographic transitions.