Evolutionarily speaking: If cooperation did not give advantages, why the fuck did we become a social species? Going for anti-cooperative strategies only ever makes sense in zero-sum games and practically nothing in life is.
In game theory cooperation does give advantages.
Both co-op: +1/+1 Both defect: 0/0 Defect/co-op: +3/0
That’s just one interaction. When you expand the experiment, predictability becomes a positive trait and risk is avoided. So by more often choosing cooperation, you become more predictable, avoid the risk of not gaining any points through mutual defection, and more people are likely to interact with you. More interactions=higher potential for points. When you adjust the rules of the game to not define a set number of interactions with each player and you can choose the frequency of interactions with bad reputation players, cooperating is naturally selected for. Conversely, as the pool gets collectively nicer, defection will net more benefits and the pendulum will start to slowly swing the other way.
You claimed that you would be the last to defend him, then defended him? Like what?
Being in your thirties and having sex with someone nearly half your age is wildly inappropriate. There’s so little that you would have in common as far as life experiences go. The years from 18-25 are some of the most influential in life and leaves people vulnerable to grooming. Experts claim that the brain hasn’t even fully developed in most adults until 25 years old. Finding people in that age attractive as a 35 year old is fine. Watch porn to your hearts content, but pursuing a relationship or sexual encounter with someone in early adulthood is just weird. It doesn’t need to be illegal to be fucking weird or predatory. In Gaetz’s case it just so happens to be all three.