Jon,
Actually, I did read the Prisoner's Dilemma article. I even re-read it just to
make sure I didn't miss anything.
However, you (and apparently many others) have drawn numerous false conclusions
about how this scenario relates to human interactions.
There is a reason why it is called the "Prisoner's" Dilemma and not the
"Every-day" Dilemma.
This scenario requires (among other things) that:
A) The individuals are held captive and not allowed to communicate.
B) The individuals are threatened by their captors to betray each other or face
longer periods of captivity.
In this environment, both individuals are more likely to turn on each other
rather than cooperate to reduce the length of their captivity.
Here comes the obvious non-sequitur: this outcome proves that individual needs
conflict with the needs of the collective; therefore, governments are necessary
to force individuals to cooperate with each other for the common good.
Do I really need to point out that the environment describe in the Prisoner's
Dilemma is one that is created by governments? How can governments be the
solution to their own problem?
All that the Prisoner's Dilemma proves is how human behavior can be perverted
by government stimuli, nothing more.
Here's a question that I would like you to answer:
How can you expect individuals to cooperate when they are not allowed to
communicate?
---Sasan
--- In [email protected], Jon Roland <jon.rol...@...> wrote:
>
> Apparently you didn't read the linked article. "prisoners' dilemma" has
> no particular connection to prison environments. It refers to choice
> situations that are among the most common in nature, ranging from
> lichens to legislatures. It is the basis for the evolution of all social
> creatures, which includes most mammals and birds, and many others in
> other phyla. You can't really understand the issues we have been
> discussing unless you master the theory involved with prisoners' dilemma
> (PD) games.
>
> I recall someone to whom I introduced the theory. I asked her to count
> the number of daily situations she encountered in a typical day that
> involved PD games. After a few days of ramping up her awareness, she
> stabilized at about 400 a day.
>
> On 10/12/2009 04:10 PM, Sasan wrote:
> > --- In [email protected], Jon Roland <jon.roland@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> There is a conflict between what is in everyone's best interest
> >> collectively, and what is in everyone's best interest individually. That
> >> is the classic "prisoners' dilemma
> >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma>" game.
> >>
> >> And what makes you think that this situation will play out in a Free
> >> Society?
> >>
> >> Isn't a Free Society the polar opposite of a prison environment?
> >>
> >> ---Sasan
> >>
> >>
>
> --
>
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