This seems to suggest that the "amiable slowpokes" would not push
the button and therefore get the $1000 each whereas the "razor-sharp
logicians" will all push the button and get $100. I think it would
be hard to round up a real group of people that would act like the
slowpokes. They would have to be *really* slow, to the point where
they didn't understand the exercise.
I think it comes down to how you model your peers. Most people don't trust
their peers to act with enough intelligence and foresight to avoid hitting
the button. If I was given the opportunity, even I would hit the button
unless a) I had a chance to discuss this exact situation with the other
players beforehand, or b) the higher intellectual ground was worth more
the $100 to me.
-- David McFadzean david@lucifer.com Memetic Engineer http://www.lucifer.com/~david/ Church of Virus http://www.lucifer.com/virus/