Cheat

What do you do

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Oniw17 said:
Who is the other person? How long have I known them?

It depends on who else is being convicted. I can figure out what most people who i know would do.
Click to expand...

But he likely knows you just as well. And he probably knows that you have a general idea of what he might do, so he will do the other thing. You know this, too.. so you counter his counter.. but he knows that, too.. ect..

The problem is that is an infinite switching of ideas.

However a lot of people would choose to implicate his friend because 10 years or 0 years looks better than the 30 years or 2.

Let's see (working a game tree in my head):

If he cheats on you, you should cheat on him
If he pleads not guilty, you should cheat on him.

Then the same for the other way.

Seems your best strategy is to cheat on him (and the same for him). He knows this.. so he is going to cheat on you.

It seems that is the best stragegy if you two are working in each one's interests. However, I see this as a cooperative game with no interaction. The best strategy in that situation is for both to plead no guilty.

So really this game depends on each person's motives.
 
You can make a choice which will guarrantee you DO NOT serve the longest jail term of 30 yrs

But you cannot make a choice that guarrantee's the shortest


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma

"In the prisoner's dilemma, cooperating is strictly dominated by defecting (i.e., betraying one's partner), so that the only possible equilibrium for the game is for all players to defect. In simpler terms, no matter what the other player does, one player will always gain a greater payoff by playing defect. Since in any situation playing defect is more beneficial than cooperating, all rational players will play defect.

The unique equilibrium for this game is a Pareto-suboptimal solution—that is, rational choice leads the two players to both play defect even though each player's individual reward would be greater if they both played cooperate. In equilibrium, each prisoner chooses to defect even though both would be better off by cooperating, hence the dilemma. One resolution of the dilemma proposed by Douglas Hofstadter in his Metamagical Themas is to reject the definition of "rational" that led to the "rational" decision to defect. Truly rational (or "superrational") players take into account that the other person is superrational, like them, and thus they cooperate."

lol
 
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http://www.gametheory.net/news/concept.pl

Some examples of prisoners dilemma in real life:

"April 19, 2005 The Guardian, UK, Signal your opposition
The Prisoner's dilemma applied to politics: "Most people won't vote for the minor parties because they expect other people not to vote for them, and therefore consider such a vote wasted" (by George Monbiot)
October 13, 2004 Wired News, New tack wins Prisoner's Dilemma
A modern updating of Axelrod's tournament finds a strategy that beats tit for tat in the prisoner's dilemma, but only by sacrificing team mates.
March 29, 2004 EurekAlert, Why AL batters get beaned more often
Moral hazard allows AL batters to get hit by pitches more often than NL batters since the designated hitter rule precludes a tit-for-tat response.
March 28, 2004 Times UK, Recession and other terrorist myths
Notes that international cooperation to fight terrorism is a prisoner's dilemma with each nation having incentive to do less than its share.
March 12, 2004 Chicago Maroon, A treatise on dating: the Prisoner's Dilemma
Student paper notes that college dating is a prisoner's dilemma with payoffs expressed in "exclusivity points" (yup, it's a stretch).
July 28, 2003 The Guardian, Caught on tape
A 1974 parody show serves as an example of "Living Scultpure". Contestants participated in a prisoner's dilemma with payoffs reflected as hours of solitary time in a basement.
April 18, 2003 ASU Web Devil, Let the sunlight of honesty disinfect cheating plague
Academic cheating is pervasive and creates a prisoner's dilemma as people may elect cheat to stay competitive.
March 30, 2003 Cincinnati Enquirer, How smart is it to be trusting?
Being trusting in business is not naive but an optimal way to play repeated prisoner's dilemmas according to Axelrod's findings.
January 31, 2003 Wall Street Journal, Ford, GM escalate price war with latest rebates for SUVs
Price wars continue in the prisoner's dilemma of automotive pricing.
January 27, 2003 Dallas Morning News, Physicists play games with quantum mysteries
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma, physicists show.
December 13, 2002 University of Minnesota , Nomadism in Mongolia
Blue Jays trained to play the prisoner's dilemma appear to adopt a tit-for-tat strategy, leading to cooperation.
November 18, 2002 Seattle Times, Data-storage field learning to cooperate
Compatibility of hardware and software is a prisoner's dilemma, resolved by the adoption of standards.
October 25, 2002 Harvard Crimson, Philosopher attacks self-interest
Philosopher offers resolution to prisoner's dilemma relying on the establishment of "social identities."
October 1, 2002 Asia Times, OPEC in the line of fire
The repeated prisoner's dilemma of OPEC cooperation is unstable.
October 1, 2002 Physics World, Let the quantum games begin
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma and other games, physicists show. (by Chiu Fan Lee and Neil F Johnson)
July 23, 2002 New York Times, Why We're So Nice: We're Wired to Cooperate
Psychiatrists note that cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma is part of innate altruism.
July 18, 2002 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Why cooperate? It's a pleasure, says Emory study
Psychiatrists note that cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma is part of innate altruism.
May 1, 2002 Dollar & Sense, What can radicals learn from game theory?
An introduction to social struggle as a prisoner's dilemma in which the role of government is to devise the right game to be played. (by Alejandro Reuss)
April 3, 2002 Nature, Physicists play by quantum rules
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma, physicists show.
January 23, 2002 ZDNet, PGP creator: Snooping must be curbed
Encryption: the web is a one-shot, not an iterated prisoner's dilemma
October 24, 2001 ABC News, Drug hoarding and 'Prisoner's Dilemma'
The desire to hoard antibiotics in response to anthrax threats leads to a prisoner's dilemma and limited supplies. (by John Allen Paulos)
August 18, 2001 goMemphis.com, NBA team as status symbol becoming more like an idol.
Cities cought in a prisoner's dilemma over recruiting basketball teams.
April 10, 2001 DevX Press, DevX.com and Microsoft launch prisoner's dilemma game...
The prisoner's dilemma as an educational tool for developers.
March 23, 2001 Dayton Business Journal, Game theory applied to lure health care workers
Hospitals bidding for nurses find themselves in a prisoner's dilemma.
2001 The Games Journal, Aggression in multi-player games
Early aggression may lead to retribution in strategy board games.
November 22, 2000 The Street.com, The malls get decked: Retailers minding too many stores
Retail overexpansion the result of a prisoner's dilemma
June 19, 2000 eeTimes, Bill Gates could gain a lot from a little game theory
Discusses tit-for-tat as an optimal strategy in repeated games
January 1, 2000 Scientific American, For quantum prisoners, there may be no dilemma
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma
April 1, 1999 Nature, Phage-lift for game theory
Primitive phages, bacteria-infecting viruses, play the prisoner's dilemma on a genetic, evolutionary level.
January 29, 1999 Commonweal, Who's driving: the market's dilemma
Incorrectly describes a stock market bubble as a prisoner's dilemma but does describe the boundedly rational greater fool theory.
October 10, 1998 New Scientist, Don't get even, get mad
Drama Theory attempts to reconcile game theory with irrationality, emotional commitment.
June 11, 1998 Nature, Help and you shall be helped
Can cooperation in prisoner's dilemma -type games evolve without repeated interaction, through indirect reciprocity?
1998 The Slab, Tit for Tat
Describes the use of tit for tat throughout the natural world and notes Axelrod's findings.
July 1, 1997 Pollution Engineering, Industry, regulators learn to play the game
Pollution regulation is a prisoner's dilemma between companies and regulators
September 1, 1993 Atlantic Monthly, Can selfishness save the environment?
The Greenhouse Effect results from a tragedy of the commons which can be overcome with tit-for-tat strategies."
 
TheoryOfRelativity:

My answer is highly dependent on whether or not all scenarios are known to me at the time of the decision. Is such the case? Or am I to act out of ignorance?

If ignorance, the most reasonable conclusion is to rat out the other and to strike a deal with the DA. This, however, is clearly not the most moral thing to do.

If not ignorant, the most reasonable conclusion is to be loyal and plead not guilty. This is also the most noble as it requires no violation of loyalty, whereas also being the most practical, as the fear of ten years imprisonment ought to overwhelm the two years of imprisonment or the thirty years of imprisonment either face.
 
Were I going to commit a crime that carried a 30 year sentence, and one that needed an accomplace, this situation would be well thought out, and I would have to trust my partner completely before actually doing the deed.
 
The question's too hard. :( I wanna say I'd plead not guilty but then I would never know until I'm in the situation. Probably the latter though.
 
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