We have discussed in lecture the nature of evolutionary game theory, the hawk-dove game providing an example of inherited behaviors influencing played strategies. What I found of interest was an article that attempted to link this simple example to the inner workings that make a suicide bomber.
Though the thought of men and women forfeiting their lives in order to cause harm to others seems unintelligible, such behavior is in fact steeped in our own biology. The branch of study known as evolutionary psychology has observed multiple cases where organisms have sacrificed themselves under certain conditions. Richard Lenski and Greg Velicer found that differing strains of the gut bacterium E. Coli engage in a type of chemical warfare when there is a shortage of nutrients. A chemical attack occurs through the production of a toxin by a certain strain of the bacteria. This toxin is strain-specific meaning it is only deadly to other strains. Unfortunately the bacterium that produces the toxin kills itself in the process. Another interesting note is that though all bacteria of a certain strain of E. Coli have the gene to produce the toxin, only a few actually do, sacrificing themselves for the rest of the group. Game theory can be used to determine the proportion of bacteria that will become “suicide bombers”.
This behavior is remarkably similar to the human suicide bombers we see around the world today. Just as behavioral strategies of the bacteria are shaped by their genetics, humans too have genes that influence our behavior. Accordingly, several theories about human genetic behavior have been explored. One is that though males in principle can impregnate many mates, the increase in competition may result in them obtain no mates at all. Therefore to guarantee reproduction males must take a certain number of risks. Since dying “childless” is equivalent in genetic terms to dying when risking all, the strategy of becoming a suicide bomber may enable a male to produce genetic progeny.
On the other hand there is a certain social aspect to suicide bombing involving the principle of unselfishness. While the notion of creatures helping their own kin, even at their own expense is intuitive and understandable, the idea that individuals may be favored evolutionally if they help others they are not related to was explored by Bob Trivers at Rutgers University. Connecting this idea to the suicide bomber it is easily seen the sacrifice of one’s life for the ideals of a group is a mark of the aforementioned unselfishness. This result is a type of “reciprocal altruism” where as the bomber has helped the group, the group now will help the bomber in the future, most likely through preservation or elevation of some form of legacy or genetic progeny.
A direct connection between suicide bomber behavior and the hawks and doves game can be seen in John Maynard Smith’s analysis of behavioral strategy. His work showed that though societies provide what appears to be the greatest happiness for the greatest number, this state may not be evolutionary stable. A society of this form can be considered to be made up of altruistic doves. As long as only doves are added to the society nobody will fight with anybody else. However such a society will be upset by the introduction of a hawk that comes in and takes the unit of “food” without opposition. The hawks then will thrive and multiply until there are so many that hawks begin to clash with each other. This clashing will keep the hawk population in check. If we take the suicide bombers to be hawks and the rest of the normal population to be doves, we see that such a situation will result in an increase in suicide bombers and their related activity until there are too many of them and they begin to clash against each other. A more likely result is that another “type” of hawk is added into the society. This second type of hawk we have come to know in such terms as counter terrorism, military retaliation and ultimately the war on terror. We therefore see that though technology and infrastructure has gotten more complex over the years, we are still creatures of biology and still maintain some of the same genetic strategies from the Stone Age.

Source: Natural Born Killers