Game Theory Calls Cooperation into Question
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/game-theory-calls-cooperation-into-question1/
This article discusses the topic of Game Theory and focuses attention on the observation that the simplicity of the Prisoner Dilemma makes it applicable to many situations, but the article argues that it is not always correct. More generally, this article explains that cooperation really isn’t always the right answer and demonstrates that many conditions of the game can change a winning strategy.
The first discussion is over macrobiology and the article explains that monkeys who scream to warn of danger, and bats who share their food are great examples of cooperation as a dominant strategy. In these examples, animals gain some benefit from cooperation such as increased mutual cooperation from other members in the monkeys’ case, and procreation advantage by helping families eat in the bats’ case.
But, the article explains that there are cases when this is not the best solution. A different publication is sited as a better model for the Prisoner’s Dilemma called the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma. In the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, players make decisions based on prior interactions and with an understanding of the game. In this new format, the study found that extortion was a better solution for one player over time and that one player could dictate the outcome of following games.
Moving forward, the article explains that conditions such as number of players, starting strategies, memory, and many others elements all play a huge role in determining dominant strategy, and they even explain that these models can be applied to microbiology. In some cases, bacteria can produce and share enzymes that increase resistance to medicine, but the success of cooperative bacteria depends on if they build mutual immunity or if the non-cooperative bacteria are the only ones who advantage from sharing.
This article opened my eyes in some ways because it added a lot of complexity to things we have discussed about Game Theory and Nash Equilibrium. I had assumed that generally cooperation was always a better solutions for players, but this article really disproved this. What I found most interesting was the discussion of iterations to the Prison’s Dilemma. I assumed that any form of iteration would be a confirmation of cooperation as the best choice, but I was shown otherwise. I think this article adds a lot of depth to what we have discussed in class and shines a different light on Game Theory and cooperation.