evolutionarily stable strategy

English

Alternative forms

• evolutionary stable strategy

Etymology

Coined by British biologist John Maynard Smith in 1972 in his paper Game Theory and The Evolution of Fighting.

Pronunciation

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Noun

evolutionarily stable strategy (plural evolutionarily stable strategies)

1. (evolutionary theory) A strategy that, when adopted by a population, is effective and unlikely to be replaced by another strategy.
   • 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

     To be an evolutionarily stable strategy, remember, a strategy must not be invadable, when it is common, by a rare mutant strategy.

   • 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

     An evolutionarily stable strategy is a strategy that does well against copies of itself.

See also

• Nash equilibrium
• game theory
• ESS