Sunday, May 3, 2009

Justice (as seen through a hoop)

The quality of mercy is not strain'd Portia, from Shakspear's The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I

Ach, too easy... How's about:

You are the Enemy I name Thee now... and this I swear: to my last breath I shall block You on earth.... ~ Amadeus: A Play by Peter Shaffer

The Bulls did end up losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of a very exciting playoff series. Too bad, however, the Bulls players did not resort to cheap shots on the Celtic players in order to win the game or in retaliation for the Celtics dirty play through the series, mainly by Rajon Rondo.

What struck me as pertienent was the Bulls’ fans reactions to the perceived injustice in the foul calling. The actions of Rondo were against the rules and the spirit of the game. When the fans saw his actions were not be penalized they wished the Bulls players would exact some measure of revenge.

Humans have an evolved sense of right and wrong. What the fans wanted was a variation of the Tit-for-Tat, Retaliator or other system given to the evolutionary defense mechanism of reciprocal altruism.

Tit-for-Tat is not the best strategy ever and has been defeated but only when others have worked out detailed attempts to specifically defeat it. The one I favor and have used (playfully) is nicknamed Grim. Grim punishes cheats with ETERNAL vengeance. I do seem to recall "someone" else favoring the Grim strategy.

No comments: