There’s a famous thought experiment in economics known as the “prisoner’s dilemma.” In it, two men have been caught committing a crime. Each of them is placed in a separate interrogation room and effectively has two options: confess or lie. There are three possible outcomes (the payoffs of which are illustrated in the payoff matrix below):

Figure A: The prisoner’s dilemma. Image: Zander Nethercutt

Outcome 1: Both confess, and both serve eight years in prison (illustrated by payoff “-8, -8” in Figure A).

Outcome 2: Both men lie, and both serve one year in prison (illustrated by payoff “-1, -1” in Figure A).

Outcome 3: One man confesses while the other lies. The liar serves the longest possible sentence, 10 years, while the confessor goes free (illustrated by payoff “-10, 0” in Figure A).

So, if both men lie, they both get off with a lighter sentence. That appears to be the full story—except it isn’t.

The importance of the prisoner’s dilemma is understanding that in selecting a strategy, each player should account for the effectiveness of that strategy given what the other player might do.

In a hyperproductive, work-obsessed world, we’ve become acutely aware of any opportunity for optimization.

Knowing this, consider the game from the perspective of Prisoner 1. If he thinks Prisoner 2 will lie, he should confess, because serving zero years in prison is better than serving one. If he thinks Prisoner 2 will confess, he should also confess, because serving eight years in prison is better than serving 10. In this situation, confessing is both players’ dominant strategy, the strategy they should play regardless of what the other player does.

This thought experiment illustrates how two self-interested individuals with a clear way to maximize their collective utility fail to do so. It also happens to be a fantastic way to understand our current moment. Millennials—not all of us, but many of us—are burned out, and the prisoner’s dilemma can shed light on why.

Unfortunately, it also sheds light on a distressing conclusion: Barring some miracle of human coordination, our quest to optimize our lives will never slow, let alone stop. If anything, it will accelerate.