Prisoner's dilemma

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The Prisoner's Dilemma is a scenario of GAME THEORY^[1] developed in the 1950s by Merrill Flood, Melvin Dresher and Albert W. Tucker. It demonstrates the conflict between individual and collective interests when two suspects are separately offered a deal by the police. Each can either co-operate (remain silent) or defect (testify against the other). If both remain silent, each serves 6 months; if one confesses, the silent suspect serves 10 years. Mathematically, confessing is the dominant strategy, leading to a sub-optimal outcome in which both suspects confess. The scenario has been expanded to the iterated version, where repeated interactions can foster co-operation through strategies such as Tit for Tat. It has wide-ranging applications in understanding strategic interactions in economics, politics^[2] and social sciences, illustrating how rational self-interest can lead to collectively worse outcomes.

Terms definitions

1. ↑ GAME THEORY. Game theory is a mathematical approach to studying strategic interactions between rational decision-makers. Developed in the early 20th century by mathematicians such as John von Neumann and John Nash, it analyses how individuals or entities make choices to maximise their outcomes in competitive or cooperative scenarios. The field spans multiple disciplines, including economics, biology, computer science and political science. Key concepts include Nash equilibrium, evolutionary strategies and various types of games, such as zero-sum and simultaneous games. Researchers apply game theory to understand complex interactions in diverse areas such as market competition, animal behaviour, artificial intelligence and international relations. Its mathematical framework helps predict and explain strategic behaviour by examining how players' decisions interconnect and influence each other's potential gains, making it a crucial tool for understanding decision-making processes in complex systems.

2. ↑ politics. Politics is a multifaceted field that explores governance, power dynamics and social organisation. Originating from the ancient Greek term "politeia", it examines the structures and processes of state management. Political power is characterised by its ability to influence social outcomes through mechanisms of legitimacy, centralisation and coercion. Various political systems, from democracies to monarchies, operate through complex institutions such as legislatures, executives and judiciaries. Different ideological perspectives - including liberalism, conservatism and socialism - shape the understanding of state functions, individual rights and social relations. International politics further expands this domain, analysing global interactions, diplomatic relations and transnational governance. Theories of political change, power distribution and institutional structures provide critical insights into how societies organise, govern and transform themselves through political processes and philosophical debates.

Prisoner's dilemma (Wikipedia)

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O prisoner's dilemma refers to a problem of GAME THEORYThis is a clear but atypical example of a problem of non-zero sum. In this problem, as in many others, it is assumed that each playerThe player, who is independent, wants to maximise his own advantage without caring about the other player's result.

Will both prisoners cooperate to minimise the loss of freedom, or will one of the prisoners, suspicious of the co-operation will betray him to gain freedom?

Standard game theory analysis techniques, such as determining the Nash equilibriumThis can lead to each player choosing to betray the other, although both players get a more favourable outcome if they collaborate. Unfortunately for the prisoners, each player is individually incentivised to defraud the other, even after the reciprocal promise of collaboration. This is the key point of dilemmaIn other words, should or shouldn't the selfish prisoner collaborate with his neighbour without betraying him, so that the group's advantage, equally distributed, can be maximised?

No prisoner's dilemma iterated, a co-operation can be obtained as a result of balance. Here you play repeatedly, and when you repeat the gameIn an iterative process, each player is offered the opportunity to punish the other player for not co-operating in previous games. Thus, in an iterative process, the incentive to defraud can be overcome by the threat of punishment. punishmentThis leads to a better, more co-operative result.