Good as Strategy: Why Conscience Is a Positive‑Sum Meta‑Game

Using game theory, cybernetics, and information theory, this essay examines the paradox of evil’s strategic defeat despite its tactical advantage. It demonstrates that conscience is a negative‑feedback algorithm that optimizes long‑term survival in repeated social interactions. Good is interpreted as a meta‑strategy that maximizes reputational capital and systemic resilience, whereas evil is a local optimization leading to rising entropy and cognitive degradation. Mathematical conditions are formulated under which the cooperative strategy proves evolutionarily stable and ensures the continuity of the game over time.