Online Altruism Lab

Naked ape simulation

This multi-agent model demonstrates the feasibility of a conceptual model that the hairlessness of the highly social human species could be an altruistic trait, enabling individuals to better signal their illness and the associated risk of infection to other group members.

To run the simulation click SETUP and then GO. Click GO again to stop it.

This image shows an example group consisting of 30 members with different harm values (=hairiness levels). The brighter the dot, the lower the harm value and the less hairiness. Group members can become infected by a sick individual, with the harm value indicating how many are at risk in each case. The boundary around the group can also be seen in this image.

Further information about the model and details about the various parameters can be found further down the page in “Model Info.”

On small devices it may be better to open the model in a separate window.