Corruption Conundrum and Other Paradoxes and Dilemmas by V Raghunathan

Author:V Raghunathan [RAGHUNATHAN, V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-67-008356-5
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2010-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

RESOLVING DILEMMAS AND THE GITA

Recall Arjuna’s dilemma over fighting his cousins just before the war? Moments before the conch shell is to be blown announcing the commencement of the battle of the day, Arjuna, leading the Pandavas, is deeply torn between two sentiments. To Arjuna, it seems right to fight for his (and his brothers’) due, namely, the kingdom, and yet it appears wrong to fight one’s own cousins, uncles, teachers and friends to claim that due. Lord Krishna, in the guise of Arjuna’s charioteer, gives him the sermon of the Gita, to resolve the dilemma. The long and short of the sermon is, ‘Thou shalt do thy duty.’ Each one has certain higher duties to perform. For a king, staking claim to his kingdom is his highest duty, so it is his duty to wage war if that is the only way to claim his kingdom even if it is against his own brothers. According to the Gita, you should only be guided by your higher duty and accept the consequences. In this alone lies the salvation of the universe.

If every individual abides by his or her dharma, many dilemmas disappear. Consider the prisoner’s dilemma for example. Let us say that even thieves follow a dharma of their own, in keeping with ‘honour among thieves’, which is ‘do not squeal on your accomplice’. If this is their highest truth, and both prisoners abide by their dharma, the prisoner’s dilemma disappears. Neither tells on the other and each gets two years in prison and they are both better off.

Dharma and the Tit for Tat strategy are quite similar. Never be the first one to defect; but if the other one defects, retaliate (not meant in an ‘eye-for-eye’ spirit) in punishment. And if the other resumes cooperation, resume your cooperation as well. Thus be forgiving and do not hold long grudges. In other words, hate the wrong action not the wrongdoer. So if you are never the one to defect first, then prisoner’s dilemma stands resolved, doesn’t it?

If the engine driver’s dharma is to do his job as is expected of him, and he abides by it, he would probably not change his tracks, punishing a child that is in the right.

How does the dharma principle work in the case of the centipede game? The price for doing the right thing or passing both the piles of money is nothing but the possibility that your opponent will defect and terminate the game and leave you a little less well-off than if you had defected and terminated the game in the earlier move. If each player is willing to pay this price for doing the right thing, both are more likely to take the game well towards the predetermined number of moves. By following their dharma, that is, not being greedy, their collective good or the collective pool of coins is maximized.

Also, most game theoretic situations are resolved when one internalizes the problem rather than externalizes it. For example, externalizing the prisoner’s

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