Book Review: Rock, Paper, Scissors

            Here I am again, being annoying and judgmental because of the title of the book. I don’t know if it’s just me, but book titles have a lot of bearing on whether or not I should read the book. Obviously, the title, Rock, Paper, Scissors, implies the game we use to play, where rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper and paper beats rock. Then, what? Will this book give me tips on how to win the game? Will this book explain how could paper defeat rock, when in fact the rock would crumple the paper and eventually tear it? I don’t know. And yes, there is only one way to find out what this book or what the title is all about: Read it.

Rock, Paper, Scissors is written by Dr. Len Fisher. Well, just little digression, the name of the author has a familiar ring to me. I thought he was the one who also wrote the book, How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One, which is one of my favorite books I’ve read in our Prose Styles class last year. It made me a little bit excited on reading the book but when I looked it up on google, I was a bit disappointed when I found out that it was not Len Fisher who wrote that book. It was Stanley Fish. Oh well, after all, they have the word fish in their last names. My memory isn’t so bad after all.

Reading this book was not an easy task for me. I have read this while reading other articles and readings completely unrelated to this book. And honestly, I was close to giving up on reading since I find the first few parts really boring and uninteresting. Well, at least for me. It was only when I reached Chapter 3 when I found interest in the book. Perhaps, it was because of the title of the chapter, the Seven Deadly Dilemmas.

The first dilemma is the Prisoner’s Dilemma which was expounded in the earlier parts of the book. This explains how two individuals could be uncooperative even though it could be better if they do. Fisher gave ample examples to further and simply explain the dilemma. The second dilemma is the Tragedy of the Commons which, in its essence, is a multiperson Prisoner’s dilemma. The third one is the Free Rider problem (a variant of the Tragedy of the Commons), which arises when people take advantage of a community resource without contributing to it.(Fisher, 2008) To simply put it,  is the choice between being a collectivist by cooperating with other people or being an individualist by pursuing self-interests, when it comes to the use and care of communal resources. The fourth dilemma is Chicken, wherein both sides try to push each other to the edge with the hope of making the other one back down first. The Volunteer’s Dilemma, the fifth dilemma, simply states that in a group, someone must go first or sacrifice, being the “volunteer” of the group. If not, everyone in the group may lose. The sixth dilemma is the Battle of the Sexes, wherein as obviously stated, it means that two people may have different preferences but would rather be with each other’s company than pursue what they want alone. Lastly, the Stag Hunt explains that a group would win a risky situation by cooperating but there is a dilemma on each individual because they have a sure win, but with a lower reward, when they choose to go alone.

The Fourth Chapter which was entitled after the title of the book states that the game rock, paper, scissors is a game played all over the world. It has different names, of course in different languages. It also not just played by children but by adults, who would rather leave to chance when they could not agree on something.

Again, just like the previous book reviews I have made, I know that this is not a substantial one since I haven’t finished reading the book. To be honest, I also do not know whether or not I have completely understood the entirety of what I have read. All I could possibly say is that this book is comprehensive enough for people who want to understand the logic behind game theory. And lastly, this book tells a lot about cooperation and that individuals also can make a difference.