As for the mathematical correctness of tit-for-tat and/or the Golden Rule validating the godlike brilliance of Jesus' teachings, I'm unimpressed by that line of argument. If Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you: When you drop a rock from a great height, it seeks the Earth from whence it came with greater rapidity the longer time passes since it left thy hand", it would be an accurate statement. Eventually, modern physics would describe the constant acceleration of an object being pulled by gravity. Or what if he said, "red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." Would the fact that eventually a true statement that Jesus makes eventually gets some math or science attached to it really validate a godlike level of intelligence in Jesus? IOW, do you really believe that a mere mortal smart guy couldn't figure out "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a good rule of thumb to follow?
You should pick up a copy of Matt Ridley's "Origins of Virtue". It's a quite enjoyable review of the Iterated Prisoners' Dilemma, as well as the question of cooperation among strangers in general (both with humans and in other species). I think you'd like it. (In fact, Ridley basically concludes that the modern free market is the most sophisticated example of an evolved system of cooperation. This fact pissed off more than a few reviewers on Amazon. :-)
Finally, one more thing about tit-for-tat. Ridley mentions that one adjustment to the simple tit-for-tat rule that is needed for the real world is: You should have a certain amount of bias towards forgiveness, because you are never totally sure that the person defecting against (or stealing or defrauding) you is doing it intentionally. If you always use simple tit-for-tat, then if a transaction goes bad through honest miscommunication, you might stumble into a feud with another honest tit-for-tatter.
Finally really, I suppose if I were robbing someone I would want them to give me everything they have & not call the police. So if I get robbed, the moral thing for me to do is...?
TTFN
I'm rooting for tortoise & betting on RWN.
Ridley basically concludes that the modern free market is the most sophisticated example of an evolved system of cooperation.
Which of course is based on Christian thinking.
Which actually meshes with with what tortoise says about IPD.
If Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you: When you drop a rock from a great height, it seeks the Earth from whence it came with greater rapidity the longer time passes since it left thy hand", it would be an accurate statement. . . .Eventually, modern physics would describe the constant acceleration of an object being pulled by gravity.
First, that's not necessarily true. Who says modern physics had to come into existence?
Second -- and more to the point -- if the common wisdom was that the rock slowed as it fell, and whole governments and cultures and modes of behavior were based on the slowing rock, then Jesus' observation would be inarguably profound and significant regardless of the passage of 17 centuries before the math could be found to back it up.