Sky TV and the prisoners’ dilemma

The prisoners’ dilemma is a model of real-life conflict. (Image: 123rf)

Sat, 05 Apr 2025

The Prisoners’ Dilemma is a paradox formalised in the 1950s by two mathematicians, Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher.It’s game theory whose origins can be traced back to modelling real-world conflicts, such as nuclear standoffs between the US and the Soviet Union. It tests how people make decisions under uncertainty and conflicting interests.How it worksTwo suspects are arrested and held in separate cells without communication. The police don’t have enough evidence to convict them of a major crime unless one or both confes...

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