Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Summary

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Reading Robert Axelrod’s book, The Evolution of Cooperation (1984), I am fascinated by his analysis of Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. His analysis consists of two main elements: cooperation and reciprocity. When it comes to reciprocity, “turn the other cheek” is the idea of no limit to forgiveness for injury, just as God’s forgiveness of us is unlimited. It stands for unconstrained love and kindness, including love for your enemy. According to Axelrod’s analysis , I do not think that “turn the other cheek” would be a successful strategy for the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma. Unlimited forgiveness fails to lead to successful cooperation between people from both sides. The more forgiveness you offer, the more chance you will get harm. According …show more content…

According to Robert Axelrod, “Cooperation can begin with small clusters. It can thrive with strategies that are “nice” (that is, never the first to defect), provocable, and somewhat forgiving” (Axelrod 5). However, Robert Axelrod’s statement, “somewhat forgiving”, is not the same as the idea of “turn the other cheek”. “Turn the other cheek” emphasizes “unlimited forgiveness” which means no matter how hard and how many times a person has punched on your face, you should never resist and then forgive him. The “turn the other cheek” also suggests “unconstrained love and kindness” which mean “love your enemy”. Robert Axelrod’s “somewhat forgiving” means we can forgive the people who defect on the second move and give them warning. However, we show no mercy on them if they continue to defect on the third move. What we do next is to retaliate quickly. According to Robert Axelrod, “The longer defections are allowed to go unchallenged, the more likely it is that the other player will draw the conclusion that defection can pay” (Axelrod 4). Defections can be forgiving but cannot be tolerated. The people who offer cooperation should always challenge the defection quickly to let the defecting people know their behavior does no good to both sides. The sooner the people react, the better the cooperation

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