Suppose the lazy student had continued to press their case, and had said the following:
“You made this argument because you believed me to be the sort of person who would accept it. In order to prevent other people from making the same argument, I have to be the sort of person who wouldn’t accept it. To that end, I’m going to not accept your argument.”
The student smiles slightly and responds, “Seeing as you are concerned primarily with maintaining a reputation for not granting exceptions, I must now precommit to actively engage in giving students who have not yet taken this class the opposite impression of you as a person if you do not grade my paper. I will volunteer to mentor incoming first-year students, and I will make sure as many of them as possible believe that you are secretly lenient with deadlines despite the unyielding outward appearance you strive to cultivate—and thus will accept late submissions if they offer a merely plausible excuse. Thus, the optimal way to protect your reputation is to make an exception for me in return for my silence as you previously considered.”
Assuming the response is believably delivered, should the teacher grant the exception?
No, for a similar reason: to be the sort of person who gives in to threats is to motivate threats against you.
You should only negotiate for the things that you predict are actually part of an agent’s utility function, not things that you believe to be part of a hostile function adopted only to impose utility costs on you.
Suppose the lazy student had continued to press their case, and had said the following:
“You made this argument because you believed me to be the sort of person who would accept it. In order to prevent other people from making the same argument, I have to be the sort of person who wouldn’t accept it. To that end, I’m going to not accept your argument.”
The student smiles slightly and responds, “Seeing as you are concerned primarily with maintaining a reputation for not granting exceptions, I must now precommit to actively engage in giving students who have not yet taken this class the opposite impression of you as a person if you do not grade my paper. I will volunteer to mentor incoming first-year students, and I will make sure as many of them as possible believe that you are secretly lenient with deadlines despite the unyielding outward appearance you strive to cultivate—and thus will accept late submissions if they offer a merely plausible excuse. Thus, the optimal way to protect your reputation is to make an exception for me in return for my silence as you previously considered.”
Assuming the response is believably delivered, should the teacher grant the exception?
No, for a similar reason: to be the sort of person who gives in to threats is to motivate threats against you.
You should only negotiate for the things that you predict are actually part of an agent’s utility function, not things that you believe to be part of a hostile function adopted only to impose utility costs on you.