Reciprocity: Getting What You Give
Farnam Street (Shane Parrish) · 2022
"Reciprocity — physically grounded in Newton's third law ('for every action, an equal and opposite reaction') — extends metaphorically to human relationships and biology: what you put into the world tends to come back to you, whether through direct exchange, pay-it-forward chains, or reputation effects, making win-win cooperation a durable long-term strategy."
In physics, reciprocity is literal and exact (Newton's third law: every force has an equal, opposite reaction); in human relationships, reciprocity is looser but still statistically powerful — direct reciprocity ('I help you, you help me') and indirect reciprocity (paying it forward, or building a reputation that draws future help from others) both create positive feedback loops that reward cooperative behavior over time, even though any single instance of giving may go unreciprocated.
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Prisoner's Dilemma: What Game Are You Playing?
"The Prisoner's Dilemma shows that individually rational self-interest can produce a jointly worse outcome for everyone — but when the same game repeats indefinitely with an unknown end point, cooperation becomes far more likely to emerge and persist."