Reflecting a bit on the game theory of discipline in ships in the days before radio.
- Reflecting a bit on the game theory of discipline in ships in the days before radio.
- Navy ships have to have extreme discipline ("tight ship") because they are a pocket of society kept away from the ground truth of the rest of society for extended periods of time.
- If the captain allows a little slip in the rules you could have a compounding situation get out of control and have a munity and have no recourse.
- In society if you get a "mutiny" you'd call in the bigger guns in that situation to bring order.
- But in a ship pre-radio there's no big guns to call in.
- Even post-radio there are no big guns to call in right now.
- The deterrence works only indirectly; when the ship returns to land, the big guns might punish the people who broke the rules when you were out at sea.[zz]
- The effectiveness of that deterrence depends on the priors; how proactively and consistently did the big guns lay down the law when ships returned back to shore in the past?