As I walked the mean streets of Pico-Robertson today, I felt weak, tired and vulnerable. I was exhausted. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to run my errands, to pick up my groceries, and to retreat home for the final two days of Passover (holy days when work is forbidden).
I got home and returned to George Gilder‘s book, The Israel Test.
I’m fascinated by its description of game theory (from pages 194-200).
If you are unlikely to have future transactions with somebody, the rational policy is to be predatory. Get all you can get.
The more often you expect to interact with somebody, the more incentive you have to treat them well.
That’s Orthodox Judaism. It is a small world. You repeatedly run into the same people. You have a high incentive to treat them well.
By contrast, when you go to a nightclub in a big city and just look to get laid, you don’t have a lot of incentive to be ethical in your dealings.
Anonymity breeds disgusting behavior.
