Reminds me of the folk theorem in game theory, which looks like it may apply to games that repeat with probability p if p’s high enough. (I’m no game theorist; it’s just a hunch. My thinking here is that p is like a discount factor, and the theorem still works even with a discount factor, if the discount factor’s high enough.) If so, a strong & pervasive enough belief in an afterlife might enable all sorts of equilibria in more complicated games.
Yes, if everyone believes that they get huge payoff in the afterlife for using strategy X, then everyone using strategy X is an equilibrium. This is exactly how many religions work.
Reminds me of the folk theorem in game theory, which looks like it may apply to games that repeat with probability p if p’s high enough. (I’m no game theorist; it’s just a hunch. My thinking here is that p is like a discount factor, and the theorem still works even with a discount factor, if the discount factor’s high enough.) If so, a strong & pervasive enough belief in an afterlife might enable all sorts of equilibria in more complicated games.
p is exactly a like a discount factor.
Yes, if everyone believes that they get huge payoff in the afterlife for using strategy X, then everyone using strategy X is an equilibrium. This is exactly how many religions work.