Success of some religious memes versus others...

[Jasper]

It's more of a logic puzzle than a sociological model. 

[Cain]

It's more of a logic puzzle than a sociological model. 

BZZZZZZZT!  Back of the class.

Game Theory is one of the very first theories you learn in the social sciences.  Among other things, its application was in the use of US nuclear strategy in the Cold War.  Game theory attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others.

RB, it may not surprise you to learn that Game Theory was massively advanced by a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from clinical depression.  Thus its underlying philosophical premises are somewhat suspect, to say the least.

[Cramulus]

This was explored in the literature on the Prisoner's Dilemma. The basic question is, "How can co-operation emerge among rational, self-interested individuals without there being any form of central authority imposed on them?" Hofstadter wrote a lot about this, and it left a big mark on me when I first read about it.

That whole dilemma seems weird and artificial to me. 

Yeah, the scenario is kind of unreal. but the core idea:

cooperate? or fuck over everyone but me?

comes up pretty often

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

I read about an example in buddhism. Zen never caught on in china because it was followed up by another sect, that taught that if you spoke a certain mantra at any time, you automatically were saved. That's SO much easier than meditating for years and getting hit with sticks to attain enlightenment.