Friday, December 11, 2009
How to achieve cooperation?
Since we are discussing cooperative and collective action, I would want to discuss what can make people cooperate. Instead of getting into the nitty gritties of rationality, I am assuming here that every individual acts as rationally as she can. I was just reflecting on the game of cooperation we played.We all experienced the basic paradox of cooperation, the paradox which says that "individuals gain more by not cooperating , but if all defect everyone loses more than they would if both cooperated". All of us who have read the game theory would agree that emergence of cooperation between rational individuals is impossible at least till everyone is aware of a constant number of chances. And I guess this is what plays a big factor in raising cooperation, the patrons should be unaware of a constant number of chances. Like had we all known that there were more chances and others would come to know of our defection, none of us would have defected during the short game we played. A long sustained process towards achieving cooperation by gradually increasing the trust level seems like the way.
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4 comments:
Gradually increasing trust level is a good way to achieve co-operation. Another way could be, if system of co-operation is made transparent, and people are made aware that non- cooperation will lead to loss to everybody involved. I feel that public humiliation is a good tool to instill co-operation. If rules of game are specified that non-coperating person will be humiliated publicly, than, as a normal human tendency to preserve face in society over everything else could force people in to cooperation.
its like blocking a person into his own image, in such a way that he cannot wander out of it into non-coperating.
I won't agree with the point of humiliating the person if he out of his rationality is defecting. This will be than forceful participation which will be against the principal of Cooperation.
Anyways Cooperation in long run is done for the benefit of all. So taking an example of that short game to understand the role of rationality of individuals in Cooperation is questionable for me.
@Arpit: I somewhere agree that saving face can bring about cooperation, but that wont be cooperation in the true sense. The 'will' is lacking in such case.
@Pawan: The short game which we played was just another example of the game theory.Even if we would have continued for another hour in the same way, it would not have made much of a difference. 'Game theory' by John Nash might make an interesting read.
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