A slight variation on this, that’s less opinionated about whether the payoff structures are actually “better” (which I think varies, sometimes the equilibria is bad and it’s good to disrupt it), it’s that at the very least, there is some kind of equilibria, and being radically honest or blunt doesn’t just mean “same situation but with more honesty”, it’s “pretty different situation in the first place.”
Like, I think “the Invention of Lying” example is notably an incoherent world that doesn’t make any goddamn sense (and it feels sort of important that the OP doesn’t mention this). In the world where everyone was radically honest, you wouldn’t end up with “current dating equilibria but people are rude-by-current standards”, you’d end up in some entirely different dating equilibria.
A slight variation on this, that’s less opinionated about whether the payoff structures are actually “better” (which I think varies, sometimes the equilibria is bad and it’s good to disrupt it), it’s that at the very least, there is some kind of equilibria, and being radically honest or blunt doesn’t just mean “same situation but with more honesty”, it’s “pretty different situation in the first place.”
Like, I think “the Invention of Lying” example is notably an incoherent world that doesn’t make any goddamn sense (and it feels sort of important that the OP doesn’t mention this). In the world where everyone was radically honest, you wouldn’t end up with “current dating equilibria but people are rude-by-current standards”, you’d end up in some entirely different dating equilibria.