On Thu, 6 Apr 2000, Bill Costlow wrote:
>
> I appologise if you thought I was attacking your post.
> I was simply stating my opinion:
Understood.
> "Any group member should be allowed to participate in
> any lotto the group holds."
>
> Somebody smarter than me used Baldur's Gate as an
> example. Wish I'd have thought of that---made the
> point much better than I did.
Well, that's the thing. I disagree with the comparison to
Baulder's Gate. Yes you don't directly improve yourself by
passing on items that someone else can use better. But in the
long run, it is better for everyone if people cooperate like
this. I won't get into a full blown discussion about the
reasons why this is, but you can look it up on the web pretty
easily. Just do searchs for "prisoner's dilemma" and "tragedy
of the commons." In a nutshell, both of these describe
situations where the most advantageous decision from an
individual standpoint results in the worst possible outcome
for all parties involved.
--
John H. Kim
kim@...