Child's Play

Making decisions for yourself could either be difficult or not depending on the situation you’re in but what about making decisions that doesn’t just involve you but other people. Would you choose the way that would completely benefit you but not the other person or would you choose to give way to that person? This is where Game Theory comes in. Through Game Theory, we are able to know how and why people uses different kinds of strategies when faced with this situation. Game Theory studies how people maximizes gain during competitions and the like. Over the years, game theorists has named the Seven Deadly Dilemmas that people encounter. The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Tragedy of the Commons, Free Rider, Chicken, Volunteer’s Dilemma, Battle of the Sexes and Stag Hunt. All of this are in a book called Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life. A critically acclaimed book written by Len Fisher and author of Weighing the Soul and How to Dunk a Doughnut, books that were named Best Popular Book of the Year by the American Institute of Physics.

            In our world today, everything is designed to deceive our brain so how do you know who to trust? In a television show I watched called Brain Games there was an experiment wherein 2 strangers compete over a briefcase full of cash called Split or Steal. The rules of the game is that when both of them raised the placard Split, they could split the cash. When they both raise the Steal placard, they can’t get the money. However, when one raises the word Steal and the other Split, the one with the word steal gets all the money. The experiment shows that 3 pairs of total strangers split the money. However, there are participants who decided to steal from the other person. This experiment shows that more people today are trusting because in order to survive in this world we tend to default to cooperation hoping that others would do the same. And this is true because in order for our society to prosper, people must learn how to trust and cooperate with one another. However, for me one should not give their 100 percent trust to the people you are not familiar with because you might get disappointed if they do the opposite of what you expect. This is explained in Stewart’s book by the Tragedy of the Commons wherein cooperation produces the best overall outcome.

            Prisoner’s Dilemma shows the different choices one could make when one is trapped in situation. And a Nash Equilibrium shows a choice in which one could not get away from without ending up in bad position. Stewart also presented the two major challenges to cooperation which are “To find a way to reach coordinated agreements” and “To find a way to make people stick to those agreements”. The Tragedy of the Commons is one of the Deadly Dilemmas. It involves different pairs of people which plays a series of Prisoner’s Dilemma. Next is the Free Rider wherein one takes advantage of the people around him/her and not doing anything. The Chicken or Brinkmanship is another Deadly Dilemma that pushes one another to a verge of falling until this person backs down first. The Volunteer’s Dilemma shows that one sacrifices himself/herself in order for the community to gain. Battle of the Sexes, shows that two people has different preferences and that they prefer to go with the other than separating just to get what they want. Stag Hunt is a Deadly Dilemma that gives a better result when done as a group than going alone and breaking the bond.

            All in all, Stewart was able to explain each of this Deadly Dilemmas in a way that the masses would be able to understand and comprehend. And for me, this book is exciting to read and would help me to be cautious in making decisions in the future.

By: DAISIC DE ASIS BELLO