Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of altruist.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Which means, of course, that Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds and Tim Berners-Lee - to name but a few of those so-called "altruists" - are, in Microsoft's opinion, nothing but liars or utterly self-deluded....

    How Sad is That, Microsoft? glyn moody 2008

  • Using outdated words such as "altruists" to represent the forces of evil who would overburden the poor, beleaguered American business community, Rand

    The Rule of Reason 2010

  • If 80 percent of a group is altruistic, it does better than a group that is enriched with only 20 percent altruists.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • It seems that the altruists felt that they had already contributed enough.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • Different groups have different fitnesses, depending on the proportion of altruists.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • So while selection within groups favors selfishness, those groups with many altruists do better.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • But without the altruists, the free riders risk losing their money too.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • When, for example, Karl and I made the simulation more realistic and allowed for mutations, or mistakes in an evolving population of players, then we saw cooperation and defection wax and wane over time, as those with a good reputation are actually undermined by indiscriminate altruists who help anyone, no matter how well or badly the latter have behaved in the past.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • So we come to the conclusion that without altruists there is no incentive to free ride.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

  • This aspect of the game adds a little twist: the free riders now have to rely on the altruists to save the climate.

    SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

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