Life's Dilemmas

I especially liked this book. I really didn’t expect it to be about strategies in life. I didn’t even expect a book like that to exist. I wasn’t aware about game theory until the author mentioned it, and it was a really a fun thing to get familiar to. He introduced me to game theory starting with the disappearing teaspoons problem, and I was really starting to wonder what the book was about. Anyway, I soon learned that the disappearing teaspoons was about the tragedy of the commons; how a person thinks selfishly and buys more spoons for himself, not knowing that there are numerous people thinking the same thing as he did, resulting in the disappearance of spoons. This was particularly where I started to like what the book was about, since I realized “I am one of those selfish people”.

The main objective of this book is to teach us more about certain situations and dilemmas, and to help us learn how to act when it happens. The first parts of the book involved explaining different dilemmas, while the last parts tried to explain how to solve the problems that arise.

It was a really confusing journey. I liked the idea of the Nash equilibrium, which is a situation derived from selfish thinking and hart to get out off, unless the equilibrium is broken. The example he stated, the one about the 2 prisoners, was an amusing story. It was best for both of them to shut up rather than telling on the other without risking the other telling on them. Of course, for them it is impossible to cooperate. However, in real life situations, the best way to solve the equilibrium is by not thinking about yourself. I really need to this more often.

Another favorite situation of mine was the “I cut you choose”. My bros and I do this all the time. I kept smiling as I read the part about how he made an experiment during a wedding (I love this guy) because it reminded me about how I facilitate the sharing of food amongst us siblings. It really works though, since the strategy satisfies our meaning of fairness. The experiment of the author resulted in different meanings of fairness; some guests wanted more icing, while some wanted more cake. Sometimes, they choose smaller pieces so that they would feel good about how they sacrificed the larger piece for another person.

The author focused on the different dilemmas which I enjoyed reading about. The prisoner’s dilemma, the tragedy of the commons (same as the teaspoon problem), the free rider, chicken, volunteer’s dilemma, battle of the sexes, and stag hunt are the 7 deadly dilemmas which we want to avoid. Thinking back, the dilemma I have encountered the most is probably the volunteer’s dilemma. After eating, my brothers and I go straight to our respective computers to have fun surfing the internet. To avoid having my mother or father scold us about not doing the chores, I quickly act as the volunteer (to wash the dishes). It works though; we don’t get scolded often. I also encounter volunteer’s dilemma at school, most especially when the teacher raises a question which we all have no answer to. The room will just be really quiet with building tension, and everyone is waiting for that one student to save the class and recite to the teacher. I do not know how the dilemma could be solved; all I know is that the volunteer is really unlucky.

Another fun situation I encountered was the ‘rock, paper, scissors’ situation. With 2, one will beat the other. But with the three of them, each will be somewhat neutralized. It was really great when the author compared it with the colored throated lizards (yellow, orange and blue) which we also encountered in our lessons in biology. Without one of the type of lizards, there will only be a single variation that will remain, which lessens the lizard species count. Somehow, despite the fact that they fight or are against each other, they need one another to coexist. Another fun idea was the truel (a duel for three). If you have a less chance of winning against the two, try to find a way to let the two stronger ones duel it out. The first thing I thought about once I read it was ‘oh man, I am so going to apply this strategy in my life’.

To solve most of the dilemmas, we need communication. I remember the story of the author about how his friend was almost punched by a drunken soccer player, but thanks to communication, they were able to sort it out. Of course, with communication one can do negotiation, and this is the most important thing to do whenever you encounter situations that really need cooperation. Of course, it will almost be impossible without TRUST. The author emphasized a lot on this. If we trusted each other completely, then there would be lesser problems in the world today. My favorite part was how they tested a chemical that induces trust, the oxytocin, on people and how they made negotiations. The results showed that spraying oxytocin on the bridge of their noses increased their trust. As I read that I hoped that maybe someday I can find oxytocin in a bottle. They tried several trust experiments too, like displaying 300 unchained bicycles, hoping that they will be useful for people and be placed back once used, but in the end, the tragedy of commons happened, and none of the bikes were returned. I was really laughing at this part, thinking about the reactions of the sponsors and researchers. The golden rule was emphasized, and he also discussed how quantum game theory may help in making decisions. That part was very confusing though.

All in all, I really loved the book. I was actually disappointed when I learned that I almost reached the end. I like how the author relates most of the dilemmas to his life experiences. Basically, all his life experiences are my favorite parts. I liked how friendly he sounds, and how he provided the solutions to all this dilemmas. This was something really new to me, despite the fact that I have been experiencing most of the dilemmas in my life already. The ideas of the author really stuck to me, and I might apply the strategies later in life.