-----Original Message-----
From: KMO <kmo@c-realm.com>
To: virus@lucifer.com <virus@lucifer.com>
Date: Sunday, February 21, 1999 7:47 PM
Subject: Re: virus: The Prisoner's Dilemma
>While it would be rational to adopt the most adaptive strategy, it
>doesn't follow that the most adaptive strategy is rationality.
Maybe not, but the meta-strategy of adopting the most adaptive strategy *is* rationality. Possible example: free will in and of itself may not be a rationally defensible concept, but it may be rational to act as if we have free will because to do otherwise would have nasty side effects are our conception of responsibility which is one of the pillars of our modern legal system.
>Are you proposing that we explore the effectiveness of various life
>strategies in a manner something like the following?
>
>Q: "What conditions would have to obtain to make consultation of an
>oracle the best means making decissions?"
>
>A: "The oracle consistently yields better decissions than the person
>asking the questions would have made without guidance."
Exactly. I believe questioning along those lines revealed that one or more "folk medicines" contains ASA (aspirin).
David