I’m not sure what the content of “making your opponent behave (ir)rationally” is >supposed to be. It’s certainly not an uncontroversial tidbit of received wisdom that the >rational thing to do in the Prisoner’s Dilemma is to defect, which is what you seem to >imply.
Exactly, if I was able to make him act irrationally, he would not defect, whereas I would. And if the definition of rationality is that it makes you win, then it can be perfectly rational to have others act irrationally (i.e. believe wrong things).
If you both cooperate, instead of you both defecting, you’d both be better off, which is a more rational (more winning) outcome. Thus, making “cooperation” a synonym for “irrational” will irk people around here. (Of course if you defect and the other player cooperates, you’d have the best possible payoff.)
Exactly, if I was able to make him act irrationally, he would not defect, whereas I would. And if the definition of rationality is that it makes you win, then it can be perfectly rational to have others act irrationally (i.e. believe wrong things).
If you both cooperate, instead of you both defecting, you’d both be better off, which is a more rational (more winning) outcome. Thus, making “cooperation” a synonym for “irrational” will irk people around here. (Of course if you defect and the other player cooperates, you’d have the best possible payoff.)