Strogatz: Strict tit-for-tat strategies trap players in endless vendettas after mistakes
Steven Strogatz · #73 Steven Strogatz: Exploring Curiosities · Jan 7, 2020 · at 1:11:07
Applied mathematician Steven Strogatz explains the game-theoretic limitations of tit-for-tat when noise, mistakes, or misinterpretations occur.
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“Here's the weakness of tit-for-tat. Sometimes people make mistakes. And not because they're mean, or, I mean, just, Mistakes happen. Sometimes you are trying to be nice, and a person interprets it as an insult. Now, if that person is following a tit-for-tat morality, and so are you, then when this accidental defection happens, they'll say, well, now I, ok, now I gotta give it back to you. So then they'll defect, but now you being a tit-for-tat player have to defect on them. Now you're in this vendetta that it's very hard to get out of.”
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