Reciprocal Altruism

He who is skilled in war subdues the enemy without fighting. — Sun Tzu, The Art of War, III.2

Strategy

An Agent using Reciprocal Altruism will act Meek, like a “provokable nice guy”.

• On round 1: Choose to cooperate
• On rounds 2+: Choose whatever your opponent chose last¹

In other words, always choose peace until you get screwed, then choose war.

Flowchart

graph TD
  A[I get a favor from you]
  B{I notice, and feel good}
  C[I DO want, or feel obligated, <br> to do a favor in return]
  D[RECIPROCATION]
  E[You like me, and are more likely <br> to do me favors again in the future]
  F[I DON'T want, or feel obligated, <br> to do a favor in return]
  G[NO RECIPROCATION]
  H[You don't like me, and are less likely <br> to do me favors again in the future]
  A --> B
  B --> C
  C --> D
  D --> E
  B --> F
  F --> G
  G --> H

Discussion

Reciprocal Altruism requires: them to notice, them to care, them to want to act back, them to be able to act back

Agents using Reciprocal Altruism are not “truly selfless”. Rational Self Interest has dictated that being selfless, to the right people, will benefit them - so that’s what they do.

Reciprocal Altruism doesn’t suggest being kind to everyone, but to those who’ve shown they know how to cooperate. There’s no requirement to be nice to everyone or to sacrifice yourself to “higher causes” that don’t personally benefit you. Stirner would be proud.

Benjamin Franklin used Reciprocal Altruism as a way of Making Friends. By requesting a small favor from a stranger, he entered both of them into the game. Then, once he did his part and paid them back, they now had a relationship built on trust.

See Also

• Reciprocal altruism - Wikipedia
• Tit for tat - Wikipedia

Footnotes

1. There should also be a small random chance of choosing peace no matter what, to break out of infinite negative feedback loops. ↩