# Contested concept: successful (strategy)

_**What you are reading**: one contested-concept page in Deliberus's deliberation graph. Deliberus maps human reasoning — including claims that are contested, mistaken, or extreme — so that disagreement can be examined precisely. A claim's presence here is not an endorsement: the graph records that someone argued it, how it connects to other reasoning, and how far scrutiny has gotten. The metadata on this page describes the state of that scrutiny, not the truth of the claim._

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- **Contestedness**: criterion
- **Diagnosis**: Disagreement over what constitutes a 'successful' strategy (individual gain vs. collective stability) drives different assessments of the 'optimal' approach to social interaction.
- **Canonical**: `/concept/successful (strategy)` (data: `/concept/successful (strategy).json`)

## Senses in use
- **The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.** — used in 5 claim(s)
- **The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.** — used in 5 claim(s)

## Claims using this term
- [In game theory scenarios where players can choose to cooperate (give) or exploit (take), a strategy of being endlessly opportunistic leads …](/claim/claim_16504afe527b.md) _(sense: The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.)_
- [The most effective strategies in strategic games include a degree of forgiveness to prevent a cycle of mutual retaliation triggered by acci…](/claim/claim_168b56fad7cf.md) _(sense: The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.)_
- [In repeated social or strategic interactions, the most successful strategy is often to mirror the actions of the other participant.](/claim/claim_25a3f722bf87.md) _(sense: The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.)_
- [In iterated game theory scenarios, the most effective strategy is often to reciprocate the previous action of the opponent (reflecting back…](/claim/claim_3829789c52b3.md) _(sense: The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.)_
- [In game theory scenarios where players can choose to cooperate (give) or exploit (take), a strategy of being endlessly forgiving leads to s…](/claim/claim_4ea0da6be32b.md) _(sense: The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.)_
- [In iterated strategic interactions (games), the most successful strategy is often to mirror the previous action of the other participant (r…](/claim/claim_7242e58390bc.md) _(sense: The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.)_
- [In social or strategic games, a strategy of being endlessly opportunistic—always seeking to exploit the other party—consistently results in…](/claim/claim_75a4a4653531.md) _(sense: The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.)_
- [Effective game theory strategies often incorporate a degree of forgiveness to prevent a cycle of mutual defection caused by accidental erro…](/claim/claim_924493127b56.md) _(sense: The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.)_
- [A successful reciprocity-based strategy must include a degree of forgiveness to prevent errors caused by misunderstandings from escalating …](/claim/claim_b5eab38c2fdc.md) _(sense: The preservation of long-term cooperation and the avoidance of mutually destructive conflict cycles.)_
- [In social or strategic games, a strategy of being endlessly forgiving—never retaliating against exploitation—consistently results in proble…](/claim/claim_e621d7b4f480.md) _(sense: The maximization of an individual's own payoff or utility within a competitive or cooperative game.)_