Sorry; I meant to say the “optimal” strategy is to defect. I don’t agree with the backwards induction; my point was that that argument is precisely what makes the problem interesting.
EDIT: By the way, I’m pretty sure I’ve come up with a strategy that is a Nash equilibrium (in IPD + simulations) and always cooperates with itself, so I very strongly agree that always defecting is not optimal.
Sorry; I meant to say the “optimal” strategy is to defect. I don’t agree with the backwards induction; my point was that that argument is precisely what makes the problem interesting.
EDIT: By the way, I’m pretty sure I’ve come up with a strategy that is a Nash equilibrium (in IPD + simulations) and always cooperates with itself, so I very strongly agree that always defecting is not optimal.