HI Everyone. I'm a psychology professor and have been thinking about the prisoners' dilemma since I read Axelrod's book, The Evolution of Cooperation, in the 1990s. Axelrod appeared to have the last word on strategies back then (cooperate on the first move, then tit-for-tat plus occasional forgiveness to avoid getting off track if a partner makes a mistake). I do not know too much about variations, although the TV show Friend or Foe made some waves 20+ years ago. In the few excerpts I've seen of that show, the naked manipulation made my skin crawl. I just checked the wiki for the show and it turns out there have been at least 3 other games shows that involve a cooperate vs. defect component. This will be my first time attend a LessWrong event, and I'm interested in the variations Ben Thompson has developed and learning from all of you.
What is the street address in Cambridge for the food court?
I subscribe to Hanson's substack, and I also do not understand Hanson's repeated exhortations that cultural drift is a severe threat. Indeed, I found the current article from googling to understand Hanson, ha ha. I agree with your summary of Hanson's views. I don't understand the same things that you don't understand.
My own views (of course Hanson would disagree with these): Fertility decline will not proceed to the point that the Amish and Mennonites will dominate in 2 centuries. Why: a lot of things can happen in 50-100 years.
Some possibilities:
Global population may decline and eventually stabilize at a sustainable level. Why: People like having children. Status goals in wealthy countries mean that people are putting off childrearing, but that will eventually smooth itself out. People will start having something like replacement level of children.
A large academic literature exists on how people who read fiction have more empathy. Granted, causality could go both directions. See https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C22&q=people+who+read+lots+of+fiction+have+more+empathy&btnG=