> This sounds like a good party game to play. It would be
> interesting to try it with people of different (alleged)
> intelligence and education levels.

I've suggested that to a group who do meet to play games

Some comments from one of them :

--------------------------------------

This is yet another variation on the "Prisoner's dilemma".

The basis of these puzzles are as follows:

The best AVERAGE outcome is if everyone works together.
The best INDIVIDUAL outcome is if everyone except one person
works together; in this case the person who stays out will get a
(usually small) advantage, and everyone else gets a disadvantage.
The WORST AVERAGE outcome is if everyone works for themselves
only.
The WORST INDIVIDUAL outcome is if everyone works for themselves,
except you.
No matter what others do, working for yourself will allways give you
an advantage over working together.

If everyone works together in the example below, they will leave the
organiser to replenish it all evening, sharing it out at the end.

Another example of this is security. If everyone works together, we
will save lots of money on not having to lock our doors. If everyone
except one person works together, then that one person will have a
huge advantage (there not being any locks...) with the average
advantage going down (as a few people get simple locks). The worst
situation for an individual is if they are honest, but still have to
pay for locks because everyone around them are dishonest (or enough).
And any person who is dishonest will allways have an advantage over
someone who is honest (though not much difference, if others in the
group are also dishonest).

Another example is driving on the shoulder. If no-one drives on the
shoulder, then anyone who needs it knows they can use it, and
emergency vehicles can use it. If a few people use it, it's hugely to
their advantage. The more people use it, the less effective it is, and
the more problems emergency vehicles will have.


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