You are right that I used the inflammatory t-word because CooperateBot submitters are probably not trying to win. I certainly expected to see DefectBots (or CliqueBots from optimists), and agree that the competition should have been seeded with both CooperateBots and DefectBots.
But I don’t understand this at all:
But I find this a poor excuse. (It’s why I always give the maximum possible number whenever I play “guess 2/3rds of the average.”)
To me, this looks like t-wording the people who play 0.
Are we thinking of the same game, where the payout is constant?
Yes, that game. My point is that complaining “that’s not fair, X player wasn’t playing to win” is a failure to think like reality. You know that you’re playing against humans, and that humans do lots of things, including playing games in a way that isn’t playing to win. You should be taking that into account when modeling the likely distribution of opponents you’re going to face. This is especially true if there isn’t a strong incentive to play to win.
Can you elaborate on this?
You are right that I used the inflammatory t-word because CooperateBot submitters are probably not trying to win. I certainly expected to see DefectBots (or CliqueBots from optimists), and agree that the competition should have been seeded with both CooperateBots and DefectBots.
But I don’t understand this at all:
To me, this looks like t-wording the people who play 0.
Are we thinking of the same game, where the payout is constant?
Yes, that game. My point is that complaining “that’s not fair, X player wasn’t playing to win” is a failure to think like reality. You know that you’re playing against humans, and that humans do lots of things, including playing games in a way that isn’t playing to win. You should be taking that into account when modeling the likely distribution of opponents you’re going to face. This is especially true if there isn’t a strong incentive to play to win.
Yes, and I agree with this. I’m familiar with Straw Vulcanism and accept that guessing incorrectly is my mistake, not others’.
It seems anger and frustration were read into my comment, when in fact I was merely surprised, so I’ve edited out the offending t-word.