465 Greek Lit and Game Theory (with Professor Josiah Ober)
The History of Literature
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The Problem of Self-Interest in Plato's Republic
Glaukhan suggests people obey the rules because they're afraid that somebody else will be a better rule-breaker than themselves. So we create all these laws to bind ourselves out of fear, just out of fear of getting the worst payoff. That's a pretty grim vision of the world and Socrates needs to come up with a story about how the world could be different. He borrows from another great work of Greek literature: Herodotus tells the story of Gaijis who became King of Lydia but it turns out to be a very different story. There's no magic ring, and it's a story that basically introduces the problem of other players in the game.
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