It predates lesswrong by decades. I think it’s meant to emphasize that the (pre)commitment is an irrevocable decision that’s made BEFORE the nominal game (the thing that classical game theory analyzes) begins.
Of course, nowadays it’s just modeled as the game starting sooner to encompass different decision points, so it’s not really necessary. But still handy to remind us that it’s irrevocable and made previous to the obvious decision point.
It predates lesswrong by decades. I think it’s meant to emphasize that the (pre)commitment is an irrevocable decision that’s made BEFORE the nominal game (the thing that classical game theory analyzes) begins.
Of course, nowadays it’s just modeled as the game starting sooner to encompass different decision points, so it’s not really necessary. But still handy to remind us that it’s irrevocable and made previous to the obvious decision point.