fubarobfusco comments on Factions, inequality, and social justice - Less Wrong

23 [deleted] 03 December 2012 07:37PM

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Comment author: fubarobfusco 06 December 2012 04:50:52AM *  2 points [-]

Sure — see Press and Dyson on extortionate strategies. Extortionate strategies put the opponent in a position where they will always be better off if they cooperate, even in the face of the extortionist defecting — by disproportionately punishing defection while opportunistically defecting themselves.

To me this seems like a natural analogy for certain forms of social unfairness. For instance, a woman in a patriarchal regime may be individually better off if she cooperates with men who treat her as an inferior, because they will disproportionately avenge any defection she might offer. However, the strategy that she implements may be better off if its members defect en masse by reliably punishing male defection in a Tit-For-Tat manner, thus driving the extortionate male strategy to extinction over many generations; albeit at individual sacrifice.