How a Crocodile and a Bird Make the Most of Their Lives
Ever seen on TV where an alligator or crocodile for some reason has its mouth open and there seems to be these little birds chilling inside of its mouth? Well nature and evolution has developed its own version of game theory and prisoner’s dilemma with the relationship between a bird called a ziczac and a crocodile. The relationship between these two animals could be what is considered a symbiotic relationship in which both animals gain a benefit from using each other. The ziczac helps the crocodile by eating parasites in its mouth, and the ziczac gets a free meal out of it. There is always the option though for both animals in which the ziczac could help himself to part of the crocodile as part of its meal while the crocodile could get a cleaning and a free meal of the bird.
In Prisoner’s Dilemma, there are specific payoffs. If both players cooperate, both receive the reward payoff (R), if one cooperates and the other defects then cooperator receives a sucker payoff (S), and defector receives the temptation payoff (T), and if both players defect then both receive the punishment payoff (P). For the dilemma, the characteristic is T>R>P>S. It seems from the description that mutual cooperation maximizes net payoff; however it is difficult to see and comprehend that that would be chosen when both players simultaneously choose. In the case for these two animals, natural selection and thousands of years of interaction have allowed for these animals to instinctively cooperate with each other.
| Ziczac cooperates
(cleans crocodile) |
Ziczac defects
(nips croc cheek) |
|
| Croc cooperates
(allows cleaning) |
Croc 2, Ziczac 2 | Croc 0, Ziczac 3 |
| Croc defects
(eats ziczac) |
Croc 3, Ziczac 0 | Croc 1, Ziczac 1 |
Based on this matrix, if this “game” was played once, why the ziczac might risk a meal inside of a crocodile’s mouth and why a crocodile would not eat a ziczac that is inside of its mouth? They are unrelated animals with no basis of comparison in why they would ever try to help each other. Because these animals have been around for thousands of years has allowed for nature to do its part in this dilemma which is repetition of the same actions with the use of natural selection which has allowed for this unique mutual cooperation. Stated within the article, in a pure iterated prisoner’s dilemma, the players have no expectations that the game will be played more than once. For the case of ziczacs and crocodiles, they are incapable of future cognition or thought; thus, the game strategy that best supports survival is not dependent upon the knowledge of whether this game is an iterated one.
http://departments.bloomu.edu/philosophy/pages/content/hales/articlepdf/moralrelativism.pdf