Press "Enter" to skip to content

Students ace exam on prisoner’s dilemma

From Inside Higher Ed. Unfortunately the professor was teaching CS, not Econ. This appears to be history’s first recorded successful implementation of a strategy discussed in every economics class I’ve ever taken, or taught. Read it all, the students used a combination of social media and intimidation to enforce cooperation: they all got A’s without taking the final. 2/12/2013.

6 Comments

  1. Anonymous 02/12/2013

    The reward for mutual cooperation (100 points guaranteed) was greater than or equal to the temptation for defecting (0-100 points based on performance). So defection is not the dominant strategy, hence this was not a prisoner’s dilemma. (Still impressive on the part of the studnts though.)

    • UO Matters 02/12/2013

      Oh Christ. I forgot to check that. Making this the most humiliating post I’ve made since I started this blog. It was Beanish. I’m horrified. And for once, no, I’m not being snarky.

    • Anonymous 02/12/2013

      Nobody’s perfect. Most people try to do right most of the time.

    • Anonymous 02/12/2013

      Do a cost-benefit analysis on thinking yourself humiliated. What would you say to a friend who had so humiliated himself. How worthwhile would you think you would be if you had not done so? Ask people if they would like a friend any less for doing so. Ask yourself why it is humiliating if someone thought you less than perfect. Are you basing too much on your self-esteem on what others think of you? How will it help you – or hurt you – to think this way?

    • Anonymous 02/12/2013

      Humiliation can help us avoid self-righteousness and help us develop empathy.

  2. Awesome0 02/12/2013

    So its matching pennies instead of PD?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *