On: selfishness and the prisoner’s dilemma

Is selfishness ever beneficial?

And why would some people act selfishly if selflessness would benefit them the most?

This game theory concept will help you answer that question.

In the early 1940s, the United States and the USSR entered a nuclear arms race.

This pursuit consumed vast resources and threatened the very existence of humankind.

Later, both parties recognized danger posed by their new weapons and signed a treaty for nuclear disarmament.

This was a seemingly rational and optimal course of action for everyone.

But the treaty was naively optimistic.

Both nations understood that having more nuclear weapons meant achieving military dominance.

If the US disarmed while the USSR continued to build its arsenal, the US would be at a significant disadvantage, and vice versa.

From each nation’s perspective, arming themselves was the only way to avoid the risk of military inferiority.

Therefore, the threat of destruction in the event of a military confrontation remained.

This situation is an example of the prisoner’s dilemma: a fundamental concept in game theory that explains why two parties, acting in their own self-interest, may make choices that are detrimental to both, even though cooperation would lead to a better outcome for all.