Do Unto Others As They Do Unto You?

Do Unto Others As They Do Unto You?



Law and politics should involve the application of principles that work. One of these principles is unexpectedly simple.



What is the best Biblical strategy as applied to the modern world? - to turn the other cheek, or to give an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?



Freedom to Tinker has a nice posting on the Tit-for-Tat computer strategy in the game of Prisoners' Dilemma and reports on a newly surfaced cheating variant which does not dislodge Tit-for-Tat from the strategy throne but which merely shows that cheating affects the results.



"For at least twenty years, the best-looking strategy has been Tit-for-Tat, in which one starts out by Cooperating and then copies whatever action the opponent used last. This strategy offers an appealing combination of initial friendliness with measured retaliation...."



In other words - optimally - do NOT turn the other cheek, but fight back in measure.



Freedom-to-Tinker points to the new variant that cheating in teams can raise some individuals of cheating teams above their normal strategic results, but as a whole, all individuals of cheating teams rank lower on average than teams of individuals who play by the optimal strategy but within the rules.



What this means is that very few profit by cheating in teams, and most lose.



This is just like in real life.



Freedom-to-Tinker, according to Technorati, has 630 links from 429 sources.

Delaware Law Office legal weblog of Larry D. Sullivan

Delaware Law Office legal weblog of Larry D. Sullivan



Larry D. Sullivan, Attorney at Law, P.A. maintains the Delaware Law Office blawg and has numerous postings of interest, the most recent being "Watching the Disney Trial".



As a sign of the digitally engendered changing times in the legal world, Sullivan notes that there is a webcast of the Disney trial, which "is the first time that a Delaware Court has made a webcast available to the public." The webcast is free to Delaware residents but otherwise costs $10 a day for non-residents. As noted in the October 20, 2004 USA Today by Esteban Parra of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal,



"The Webcast, which became available Wednesday, is part of an experiment that marks Delaware's first attempt in two decades to expand electronic recording in its courtrooms.... The Internet broadcast is being made available by Courtroom Connect, which for the past year has provided real-time trial hearings to attorneys for about $600 a week, company officials said. By having the live feed, attorneys unable to be in the courtroom can see what's unfolding and better communicate with colleagues who are there. Some also use the feed as a learning tool."



The Law Pundit, who has taught law at the university level, also sees here a world of the future for law students, who will be able to study courtroom law while watching the live progress of actual court processes and procedures. Wonderful.