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Hey Joe! Oops, my bad on the word choice. I read a book on social altruism a while ago which talked about tit-for-tat in the context of game theory (i.e. why pe
by lpolovets 10y ago
Hey Joe! Oops, my bad on the word choice. I read a book on social altruism a while ago which talked about tit-for-tat in the context of game theory (i.e. why people do nice things for strangers). I didn't realize the term has a mostly negative context.
- amorphid 10y agoIf I remeber correctly, tit-for-tat in the game theory is referring to a proportional response to an uncooperative action. For example, you take an action is 10% unfavorable to me. In response, I take an action that is 10% unfavorable to you. So next turn you take the most favorable action for you+me, and so I take the most favorable action for me+you. I guess a proportional response signals wanting a mutually beneficial, rational approach.
- oddlyaromatic 10y agoI think the parent comment is mistaken. I've always heard this used as referring to exchanges of roughly equivalent things- whereas, "an eye for an eye" leans negative, "tit for tat" is neither negative or positive. To me it simply suggests the idea of a balanced exchange. EDIT: The dictionary, and the historical roots of the term, seem to agree with the parent though. Maybe I'm just an optimist and never noticed the underlying connotation of violence.