http://cash.ucsc.edu/
Came to from seeing this...
"A field known as 'experimental economics' has extended game theory into
two specific 'minigames': the 'Ultimatum Game' and the 'Public Goods
Game,'" he writes. "Research using these games as probes indicates the
following:
� People tend to exhibit more generosity than a strategy of self-interest
predicts.
� People will penalize cheaters, even at some expense to themselves.
� These tendencies and the emotions that accompany them influence
individuals to behave in ways that benefit the group.
In other words, e-marketplaces are media as much for social interactions as
they are for financial transactions. That is, who you are and what you're
doing are as important as what you want to buy or what you want to sell.
It's no accident that eBay is still around and making money for both itself
and its, ahem, community of auctioneers. Your reputation on eBay can--and
often does--matter far more than what you are attempting to either buy or
sell.
"Reputation marks the spot where technology and cooperation converge,"
Rheingold writes. "The most long-lasting social effects of technology
always go beyond the quantitative efficiency of doing old things more
quickly or more cheaply. The most profoundly transformative potential of
connecting human social proclivities to the efficiency of information
technologies is the chance to do new things together, the potential for
cooperating on scales and in ways never before possible."
http://news.com.com/2009-1122-978596.html?tag=fd_nc_1
