Game Theory and Cold War Rationality: A Review Essay E. Roy Weintraub This essay reviews new histories of the role of game theory and rational decision-making in shaping the social sciences, economics among them, in the post war period. The recent books The World the Game Theorists Made by Paul Erickson and How Reason Almost Lost Its Mind.
Despite its applicable functions, game theory isn't without criticism. It's been pointed out that game theory can help only so much if you're trying to predict realistic behavior. Every action, good or bad, can be rationalized in the name of self-interest.
A constant difficulty with game theory modeling is defining, limiting, isolating or accounting for every set of factors and variables that influence strategy and outcome. There's always an X-factor that simply cannot be accounted for. For instance, no strategy can predict the actions of a negotiator who is in the throes of a religious revelation.
Game theory is based on rationality. And in traditional economic models, rationality is the maximization of one's own payoff. Therefore, in every situation, you'll always act to gain as much as possible, regardless of how it affects others. Interestingly, studies have found that the subjects most likely to fully embrace the economic model of a self-serving, payoff-maximizing agent are kindergarten students, but that by the fourth grade, their behavior begins to favor cooperative strategies [source: Henrich].
Game theory argues that cooperation between players is always the rational strategy, at least when participating in a game-theory experiment (even if it means losing the game). Consider this scenario: You participate in what you are told is a one-shot game. To win this game, you must take advantage of the other player. After doing so and winning, you learn that this game is actually one of two games in a series.
Now the roles are reversed. The test-givers want to see how Player 2 will behave after Player 1 defects in the first game -- this is the true purpose of the study. Your rational, self-maximizing action in the first game is now irrational outside the framework of a one-shot game.
Test-givers often trick test-takers as a strategy to obtain the optimal outcome: full knowledge of players' strategic choices in different game scenarios. A test-giver's strategy of concealing the true nature of the game itself will dominate any player's strategy within the game. The test-giver receives maximum information (which offers the most utility within a larger framework of test-giving). This information comes, however, at the expense of the player, who reveals to a fellow citizen his or her willingness to defect within the larger framework of life.
The prisoner's dilemma shows us we must assume agents always play dominant strategies. Therefore, the best strategy for a game theory experiment is to assume the test-giver is manipulating the game to make players reveal information. In a game, then, it's always better to cooperate -- even if it means losing the game. The worst outcome from this strategy is still an acceptable outcome. Essentially, losing an experimental game when you've been tricked isn't such a loss -- as long as you maintain your reputation within a much larger series of life scenarios.
Is it rational to take advantage of a player within the hypothetical (and possibly misleading) parameters of a game when you might have to share an elevator with them afterward? Ask yourself that before your next board meeting.
For more information on game theory, visit the links below.
Related Articles
General Cold War History
More Great Links
Sources
Brañas-Garza, Pablo. 'Promoting helping behavior with framing in dictator games.' Journal of Economic Psychology. August 2007 (May 9, 2008). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi= B6V8H-4MFCVST-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_ sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_ userid=10&md5=89443199abdab66180afdce858c5ea5b
Chaplin, Virginia. 'Princeton & Mathematics: A Notable Record.' Princeton Alumni Weekly, May 9, 1958. http://www34.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/princeton_math/pmcxpaw.htm
Derderian, Hovnan. 'A Message from Archbishop Hovnan Derderian on the occasion of 4th of July.' Western Diocese of the Armenian Church. June 29, 2007. http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/A-Message-from-Archbishop-Hovnan- Derderian-on-the-occasion-of-4th-of-July/
Economist. 'Money isn't everything.' July 5th, 2007. http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9433782
Glossary of Research Economics. Ed. Peter B. Meyer. (May 9, 2008). http://econterms.com
Hart, Sergiu. 'An Interview with Robert Aumann.' Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. January 2005 (May 15, 2008). http://www.ma.huji.ac.il/hart/papers/md-aumann.pdf
Hauert, Christoph. 'Public Goods.' January 2005 (May 9, 2008).http://www.univie.ac.at/virtuallabs/PublicGoods
Henrich, Joseph. 'Foundations of Human Sociality: Experiments in 15 Small-Scale Societies.' California Institute of Technology. (May 9, 2008). http://www.hss.caltech.edu/roots-of-sociality/phase-i
Internet Movie Database. 'Synopsis for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.' (May 9, 2008).http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/synopsis
James, Oliver. 'Think again: New research on schizophrenia suggests that the drugs won't always work.' The Guardian. October 22, 2005. http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/oliverjames/story/0,1619897,00.html
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 'Reciprocity in a Two-part Dictator Game.' Avner Ben-Ner, Louis Putterman, Fanmin Kon, Dan Magan. December 3, 2002 (May 9, 2008). http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Louis_Putterman/working/pdfs/chig_aer.pdf
Krieger, Lou. 'A Little Game Theory.' Lou Krieger Online. (May 9, 2008). http://www.loukrieger.com/articles/gametheory.htm
Mandel, Michael. 'A Nobel Letdown in Economics.' Businessweek, Oct. 11, 2005. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2005/nf20051011 _3028_db084.htm
McCabe, Kevin. ' What is the Ultimatum Game?' Neuroeconomics. September 24, 2003 (May 9, 2008). http://neuroeconomics.typepad.com/neuroeconomics/2003/09/what_is_the_ult.html
PBS. 'Hernan Cortes Arrives in Mexico.' (May 9, 2008).http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/1.html
Princeton University Library. 'The Princeton Mathematics Community in the 1930s: An Oral History Project.' (May 9, 2008). http://www.math.princeton.edu/quicklinks/
Reynolds, Winston A. 'The Burning Ships of Hernán Cortés.' Hispania, Vol. 42, No. 3, pg. 317-324. September, 1959. http://www.jstor.org/pss/335707
Shor, Mike. 'Game theory in film, music, and fiction: The Simpsons.' (May 9, 2008). http://www.gametheory.net/popular/reviews/Simpsons.html
Spence, Michael. 'Mr. Counterintuition: America is safer with sophisticated enemies.' Wall Street Journal. February 17, 2007. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009690
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 'Game Theory.' March 10, 2006 (May 9, 2008). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/game-theory/
Suri, Jeremi. 'The Nukes of October: Richard Nixon's Secret Plan to Bring Peace to Vietnam.' Wired.com. February 25, 2008 (May 9, 2008). http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/ 16-03/ff_nculearwar?currentPage=all/
Weisstein, Eric W. 'Game of Hex.' MathWorld -- a Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GameofHex.html
Whitaker, Robert. 'Mind drugs may hinder recovery.' USA Today. March 3, 2002. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/03/04/ncguest2.htm
The Content on this Site is presented in a summary fashion, and is intended to be used for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as medical advice or a diagnosis of any health or fitness problem, condition or disease; or a recommendation for a specific test, doctor, care provider, procedure, treatment plan, product, or course of action. MedHelp is not a medical or healthcare provider and your use of this Site does not create a doctor / patient relationship. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. We offer this Site AS IS and without any warranties. By using this Site you agree to the following . If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately.