Karl Frost

The Cultural Evolution of Hard-to-fake Rituals

This paper models the cultural evolution of hard-to-fake rituals and analyzes how they can help maintain altruism in groups under various conditions.

Calming Meditation Increases Altruism, Decreases Parochialism

This study finds that calming meditation increases altruism and decreases parochialism through a behavioral experiment using Public Goods games.

Gene-Culture Coevolution of Prosocial Rituals

This paper models gene-culture coevolution dynamics of costly rituals and prosocial genes, showing temporary ritual efficacy and potential long-term genetic decline.

Coevolutionary Dynamics of Costly Bonding Ritual and Altruism

This paper models the genetic coevolutionary dynamics of costly bonding rituals and altruism, finding that they can lead to fixation or cycling of altruism, with population mean fitness declining when cycling occurs.