Prisoner's Dilemma
by William Poundstone
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Book Summary Information
Author: William PoundstoneEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-01-01
ISBN: 038541580X
Number of pages: 294
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of Prisoner's Dilemma
Book Review: Very interesting, but lacks data.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Prisoner's Dilemma came from game theory. This is immediately evident from its hybrid character of mathematics and economics. Arrow's theorem and Coase's theorem are also a hybrid of mathematical thinking and economic thinking. And these two "theorems" and the prisoner's dilemma are products of game theory.
The combining of mathematics with economic thinking may have questionable merit according to anyone else's opinion. It has currently never been discussed, and much of game theory is accepted as gospel truth. There is a reason for this.
Game theory is the unique product produced by the RAND Corporation. The RAND Corporation grew out of World War II. In May 14, 1948, it separated from the Douglas Aircraft Company of Santa Monica, California and became independant and organized itself as a nonprofit orgianization. The RAND Corporation purports to offer research and analysis to the executive branch of the United States government within its capacity of its armed forces. It's essentially a think tank and its chosen method of thinking seems to boil down to strictly one form; namely, the above hybrid of mathematical and economic thinking. The RAND opinions carry as much weight as the famous Gallup Poll. People rely on it to the point of unquestioning fidelity. Hence, Arrow's theorem, the Coase theorem and the Prisoner's Dilemma have become gospel truth in the minds of many.
According to the Prisoner's Dilemma, two suspects are arrested and are sequestered from each other. Unbeknownst to each other, the district attorney makes each an offer. If one testifies against the other, and the other remains silent, he will be released and the other will serve five years in prison. If they testify against each other, both will serve three years in prison. If they remain silent, they will both serve one year in prison. The RAND Corporation developed this dilemma and purports to answer it. Melvin Dresher and Merrill Flood thought it up at RAND. According to Poundstone, the association of it with prison sentences was by Albert W. Tucker. According to the opinion of RAND, each prisoner will try and maximize his own position. Betraying ("defecting") the other player is allegedely the rational choice. Although both would be better off if they remained silent, the possibility of being betrayed and left with the longest prison sentence seems to, according to RAND, motivate both players to betray the other. Thus, assuming they are rational, and defining rationality to maximizing one's situation by diminishing one's sentence, both players will probably betray the other.
My criticism of this thought experiment is that, at the time it was formulated, in 1950, it wasn't been empirically tested. As such, it is largely the product of Ivory Tower intellectual speculation.
However, in lieu of the 1970's and thereafter, it has clearly been used against alleged organized crime. The witness protection system is an example of the executive branch of government implementing something resembling the prisoner's dilemma. I don't think, however, that it has been successful. For example, Joe Pistone of the FBI admitted that not one man in the Bonano family testified against any other. The charges against "fat tony" Salerno and "tony ducks" Corallo which brought indictments of these alleged godfathers of their respective families was a fluke. Neither one was an actual godfather and they went to jail voluntarily as heads of the family to throw the fed's attention off the real godfathers. They made monkeys out of the government. Other indictments failed because the charged suspects were either murdered or faked their own death. The very structure of the alleged commission is designed to survive precisely the prisoner's dilemma. This structure was formulated a long time ago. These are well documented facts.
Other areas where the prisoner's dilemma is applied is Conflict of Law theory. There are plenty of law reviews that address this. Basically, the problem as to which law will apply in certain problematic cases is deemed and unresolvable paradox according to the prisoner's dilemma.
Summary of Prisoner's Dilemma
John von Neumann invented the digital computer, played a key role in the development of the atom bomb, constructed a branch of mathematics known as game theory, and became a defender of a movement to bomb the Russians before they could bomb us. Now comes a biography of this controversial genius and an exploration of his greatest idea--one that nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1950. Photographs.Scientists Books
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