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seer comments on Getting better at getting better - Less Wrong Discussion

2 Post author: casebash 03 March 2015 11:12AM

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Comment author: seer 04 March 2015 04:30:09AM 7 points [-]

But being trusthworthy is very risky and does not necessarily pay off in a llow-trust environment.

Being trusting is even riskier (and stupider).

Comment author: [deleted] 04 March 2015 08:38:09AM 0 points [-]

The point is making it mutual. Assuming it is a coordination problem.

Comment author: seer 05 March 2015 03:10:43AM 8 points [-]

You don't solve coordination problems by being blindly trusting and you certainly don't do this by spreading "noble lies". You do it by becoming trustworthy, i.e., not defecting against those who haven't defected against you.

In fact all a "noble lie" will do is make it harder to determine who is or isn't trustworthy, thus making it harder to punish defectors.

Comment author: [deleted] 05 March 2015 08:17:41AM 0 points [-]

By using the verb "to defect" I am assuming you are familiar with the button-pressing tit-for-tat game-theory stuff. AFAIK one simple yet efficient algorithm is "reciprocate what the other player does, but when you both are stuck in mutual non-cooperative loops, offer "forgiveness" by pressing the cooperate button once and see if it is reciprocated and you both can enter a mutually cooperative loop. This "forgiving" press is clearly unearned trust!