# Definition of “simple situation” is ambiguous

"Simple” situations (where it is easy to predict which strategies will be chosen by the different agents):

• Each participant has a strategy that outperforms all others regardless of the strategies adopted by its partners.

How can everybody have a strategy that outperforms everybody else's strategy?

• The strategy outperforms all other strategies (of the player), not everybody else's. – Giskard Jan 7 at 23:30

## 1 Answer

Consider the typical prisoner’s dilemma,

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline &{\rm confess}& {\rm lie} \\ \hline {\rm confess} & \color{red}{-8},\color{blue}{-8} & \color{red}{0},\color{blue}{-10} \\ \hline {\rm lie} & \color{red}{-10},\color{blue}{0} & \color{red}{-1},\color{blue}{-1} \\ \hline \end{array}$$

In this case it is easy to predict that each player should play confess, regardless of the the selection made by the other player. Or in the words of the problem:

The best strategy (the one that outperforms other strategies) is to confess regardless of the strategy adopted by other players