In this chapter Darwin's emphasis on individual advantage has been formalized in terms of game theory. This formulation establishes conditions under … - Robert Axelrod

Proposition 4. For a nice strategy to be collectively stable, it must be provoked by the very first defection of the other player.

A moral of the story is that models that aim to explore fundamental processes should be judged by their fruitfulness, not by their accuracy. For this purpose, realistic representation of many details is unnecessary and even counterproductive.

Throughout the social sciences today, the dominant form of modeling is based upon the rational-choice paradigm. Game theory, in particular, is typically based upon the assumption of rational choice. In my view, the reason for the dominance of the rational-choice approach is not that scholars think it is realistic. Nor is game theory used solely because it offers good advice to a decision maker, because its unrealistic assumptions undermine much of its value as a basis for advice.