The Unpredictable Rules of Real Life The prisoner's dilemma has long been a staple of game theory, a thought experiment designed to illustrate the complexities of human decision making under uncertainty.
This classic scenario involves two prisoners who can either cooperate or betray each other, with varying consequences for their actions.
When both prisoners cooperate, they receive lighter sentences; when one defects and the other cooperates, the defector goes free while the cooperator is punished more severely; and when both defect, they both suffer an intermediate penalty.