The Assumption of Trust within the Prisoner’s Dilemma

From Wikipedia, the Prisoner’s Dilemma is described as:

It is assumed that both prisoners understand the nature of the game, [do not trust] each other, and will have no opportunity for retribution or reward outside the game. Regardless of what the other decides, each prisoner gets a higher reward by betraying the other (“defecting”). The reasoning involves analyzing both players’ best responses: B will either cooperate or defect. If B cooperates, A should defect, because going free is better than serving 1 year. If B defects, A should also defect, because serving 2 years is better than serving 3. So either way, A should defect since defecting is A’s best response regardless of B’s strategy. Parallel reasoning will show that B should defect.

Prisoner B does not exist. Prisoner B is null. Prisoner B is untrustworthy and not worthy of the pronoun we.

If Prisoner B existed, Prisoner A would reason with the pronoun we. Instead, Prisoner A is reasoning with the pronoun I, a self-interested party, and later projecting himself upon Prisoner B.

Prisoner B might as well be imaginary, conjured by Authority to live in the head of Prisoner A.

The rules prohibit Prisoner A from trusting Prisoner B. However, in understanding the rules and accepting the existence of another player who will play the game from the I rather than we perspective, Prisoner A trusts Authority.

If instead Prisoner A accepts the rules of the game and rejects Authority because it is not to be trusted, Prisoner A should also reject projecting himself upon Prisoner B and remain in a state of uncertainty.

After all, Prisoner A’s decision is dependent upon the uncertain, imagined outcome of Prisoner B. Authority is trying to persuade Prisoner A that before he select for himself either I or we, he must first think as an other separate from we.

Faced with this uncertainty and when asked by an untrustworthy Authority if Prisoner A wants to betray Prisoner B or remain silent, Prisoner A should always respond “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know.”

And remain silent through uncertainty.