Searching for "game theory" I saw some old discussions, so maybe some people here will appreciate this blog post (I know I did):
Anti-social Punishment
Small commentary after reading it:
The main hypothesis suggested, if true, would offers some good insights to the behavior of my neighbors. The number of free raiders among them is astonishing [to me] and, like just like the author described, if you try to guide them to contribute, they will punish you (including with ostracism - sometimes until you are so poor that your only option then becomes to free raid too). Crabs in the bucket, really.
But, paraphrasing the author: what's so bad about being ostracized by free-riders after all? Sure, before the internet became widespread, that would be a hard hit, but these days, one can easily find good online communities with good people, so the "punishment" is a lot less severe in some fronts.
Anti-social Punishment
Small commentary after reading it:
The main hypothesis suggested, if true, would offers some good insights to the behavior of my neighbors. The number of free raiders among them is astonishing [to me] and, like just like the author described, if you try to guide them to contribute, they will punish you (including with ostracism - sometimes until you are so poor that your only option then becomes to free raid too). Crabs in the bucket, really.
But, paraphrasing the author: what's so bad about being ostracized by free-riders after all? Sure, before the internet became widespread, that would be a hard hit, but these days, one can easily find good online communities with good people, so the "punishment" is a lot less severe in some fronts.
