465 Greek Lit and Game Theory (with Professor Josiah Ober)
The History of Literature
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The Prisoner's Dilemma
Josiah Ober: The Prisoner's Dilemma is one of the really famous results of early mathematical game theory. He argues that a perfectly rational individual worrying about how anotherrational individual seeks his or her own interests can lead to suboptimal choices for both individuals and community. We end up in a worse condition than we could if only we could cooperate, but cooperation is not chosen because we're worried about getting cheated by the other player he says.
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