"What makes it possible for cooperation to emerge is the fact that the players might meet again. This possibility means that the choices made today not only determine the outcome of this move, but can also influence the later choices of the players. The future can therefore cast a shadow back upon the present and thereby affect the current strategic situation. But the future is less important than the present-for two reasons. The first is that players tend to value payoffs less as the time of their obtainment recedes into the future. The second is that there is always some chance that the players will not meet again. An ongoing relationship may end when one or the other player moves away, changes jobs, dies, or goes bankrupt. For these reasons, the payoff of the next move always counts less than the payoff of the current move."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesPolitical scientists from the United StatesPeople from ChicagoYale University alumniNational Medal of Science laureates
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chap. 1 : The Problem of Cooperation
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Axelrod
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Robert Axelrod
44 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Robert Axelrod →
Related Quotes
"In fact, in the Prisoner's Dilemma, the strategy that works best depends directly on what strategy the other player i…"
"Proposition 1. If the discount parameter, w, is sufficiently high, there is no best strategy independent of the strat…"
"In addition, TIT FOR TAT was known to be a powerful competitor. In a preliminary tournament, TIT FOR TAT scored secon…"
"What accounts for TIT FOR TAT's robust success is its combination of being nice, retaliatory, forgiving, and clear. I…"
"Proposition 2. TIT FOR TAT is collectively stable if and only if, w is large enough. This critical value of w is a fu…"
"Proposition 3. Any strategy which may be the first to cooperate can be collectively stable only when w is sufficientl…"
"Proposition 4. For a nice strategy to be collectively stable, it must be provoked by the very first defection of the …"
"Proposition 5. ALL D is always collectively stable."
"Proposition 6. The strategies which can invade ALL D in a cluster with the smallest value of p are those which are ma…"
"The Cooperation Theory that is presented in this book is based upon an investigation of individuals who pursue their …"