Since following through with a threat is (almost?) always costly to the blackmailer, victims do gain something by ignoring it. They force the blackmailer to put up or shut up so to speak. On the other hand, victims do have something to lose by not ignoring blackmail. They allow their actions to be manipulated at little to no cost by the blackmailer.
That is, if you have a "never-give-into-blackmail-bot" then there is a "no-blackmail" equilibrium. The addition of blackmail does nothing but potentially impose costs on the blackmailer. If following through with threat was a net gain for the blackmailer then they should just do that regardless.
I was imagining that a potential blackmailer would self modify/be an Always-Blackmail-bot specifically to make sure there would be no incentive for potential victims to be a "never-give-in-to-blackmail-bot"
But that leads to stupid equilibrium of plenty of blackmailers and no participating victims. Everyone loses.
Yes, I agree that no blackmail seems to be the Right Equilibrium, but it's not obvious to me exactly how to get there without the same reasoning that leads to becoming a never-give-in-bot also leading potential blackmailers to becoming al...
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