the.com/evolutionary stability
the strategy nobody can beat by cheating, so cheating stops being worth it.
means a trait or behavior that, once common in a population, can't be outcompeted by any rare alternative strategy.
from coined by John Maynard Smith and George Price in 1973, borrowing game theory's nash equilibrium and pointing it at natural selection instead of poker players.
key textmaynard smith's 1982 book made it canon
famous examplehawk-dove game explains why populations mix strategies
not optimalstable does not mean best possible outcome
applies beyond biologyused in economics and social norm theory