When I was a
kid, my playmates and I used to play “costumer-cashier scenarios” and all of
the girls wanted to be the cashier so we played the game rock, paper, and
scissors and whoever wins, he/she will play the said role. My sister and I have
also employed this in doing household chores like whoever loses, she will be
the one to wash the dishes. Rock, paper,
and scissors is a brilliant and cyclic game for me since it involves the
concept of fairness. I was just amazed to a section of the book wherein Len
Fisher mentioned that higher authorities/officials/leaders still uses it
because my mind is confined to the fact that only little children and some of
the teenagers are the ones who apply this game.
Upon reading the book, (though not
all of its contents to be honest) Rock,
Paper and Scissors has a lot more to offer than what could I possibly think
of. At first, I really don’t have any idea on what the book was all about
especially the concept of game theory not until it was introduced and tackled
by the author. I was a little bit confused but later on, I kinda grasp what
Fisher wanted to say since he used some of his experiences so that the readers
can relate and better understand his ideas or thoughts.
The
story began when teaspoon users get a fraction of teaspoon for their own
personal advantage since it is written in their minds that there are still a
lot of teaspoons left not knowing that other people think the same way. I found
this quite funny because I used to have this kind of selfishness too. I
realized that even the simplest day to day situations to the complexity of
things such as serious global problems, game theory is being applied.
Game
theory is all around us and it is not just merely about games rather it is a process
of decision-making that uses different strategies as we interact with other
people. The first chapter “trapped in a matrix” involves the concept of the
Prisoner’s dilemma which shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if
it appears that it is in their best interests to do so and it also describes
the Nash equilibrium being a logical trap. The second chapter, “I cut and you
choose” simply introduces the idea of minimax and fair division. I found this
quite relatable because I am the eldest in the family and I always had the
privilege to divide the food between me and my sister. I sometimes unequally
distributed the food—leaving a portion greater than the others for my own
benefit but she has very keen eyes and noticed everything. On the other hand,
the third chapter is all about the seven deadly dilemmas in which Fisher
summarizes each problem into practical applications. Chapter four tackles the
game “rock, paper, scissors”. This is not new to me and to most of the people
because it is being played when we were just little kids but I was amazed by
the fact that it is played all around the world under various other names. Also,
it is surprising to know that this game has a lot of impact on conflict
resolution. Chapters five to eight highlights on the idea of cooperation
especially on how we can attain trust, bargain, strategized so that our
undesired outcomes will not be met as well as to avoid the trap of the
Prisoner’s dilemma.
As a
whole, the book is an interesting item to read especially to game theorists and
even ordinary readers since it does not involve technical terms, has end notes
and based on real-life experiences which are really relatable.
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