Play The Game Right!

A Book Review

"Opting out can actually promote cooperation among those who have chosen not to opt out." page 98 of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Len Fisher

I totally agree with this quote. Suppose there are many teams playing in one game.. Once someone from one team decides to leave the game, this will urge his or her teammates to work more and be more cooperative, boosting each other's determination and will to continue. This is because when you know you might lose an advantage, you will really work hard to get your team together and aim to double your efforts to match the other opponents. It doesn't matter if you're outnumbered, as long as everyone cooperates and moves as a team. And when this happens, you're no different from the other teams with complete players. That's one of the keys to succeed in any game..

This is a book by a Physicist and a Noble-Prize winner, Len Fisher. Wow, the moment I've read his credentials, I knew this was going to be a good read. I was really excited to start the book. I wanted to know how he writes. I wanted to delve into the work of a Noble-Prize winner. Since he was a child, he already have had his experience with Game Theory. He also had his share of personal experiments involving it. To give you a small detail about this theory; it actually is a Science of cooperation. I enjoyed reading this book - not too much though, but just right. Why, you may wonder? Here it goes...

Based on the book, game theory was developed in 1940. It is about the decisions people make when they are in a difficult and a challenging situation - especially when they have a little knowledge about the other involved players' choices. It presents that a presence of a powerful third player/gamer would promote better endings for all players. But of course, it still depends with other factors, both external and internal. Another definition to better understand this is; it is a study of carefully-planned decisions in situations where the results of the carefully-laid plans solely depend on the other players' strategic plans. Game Theory also looks on how we prioritize personal gain in these hard situations, reflecting our behavior. It is applicable in any field, and in any instance. It was mentioned in the book that it can also be applied in Evolutionary Biology! Wow, interesting.. something to match with my course.

However, the first chapter wasn't really that much inviting. It only gives us a background of the Nash equilibrium and the Prisoner's dilemma. 

As Fisher would like to put it; the Nash equilibrium is present in every challenging situation - in which one player can't possibly change his move without actually causing damage to the other players. Fisher went on to explain that situations can be altered and arranged so that the Nash equilibrium will be the best possible outcome for everyone. Next, the Prisoner's dilemma. It is an example of an analysis of Game Theory that can be applied in various situations. It is a made-up situation wherein there are two suspects arrested for something they have probably (still not sure) committed. The dilemma comes in when they could have cooperated so that they'd both receive less punishment. But because they are both overtaken with self-interest that fuels MORE than cooperation, they will both end up confessing (since they assumed that when one confesses, he/she would be free, while the other would suffer for 12 years for not confessing). This mentality will consequently lead to their confessions, and because of this, both of them shall serve an unwanted outcome - to serve a longer sentence. If they could have just planned it ahead that neither of them would confess, they should only serve for a short time.

While this is a good plan, it's also kind of tricky and hard to accomplish in real-life situations. Because once you're in that kind of challenging situation, only the mentally-focused can think of a plan like that. Most likely, other people would panic and think of themselves first especially when they are in a crucial situation that can affect their lives.

Fisher cannot present the solution to human competitiveness, and I guess no one can, but he tried to dig in how norms and our perceptions can alter the game, focusing more on cooperations rather than on competitions. However, again, this is a hard task, depending on the people involved. I have experienced being boosted up solely by competitiveness and I think when it really gets to you, you just can't put yourself to cooperate with the other players to provide a different outcome, especially with no any assurance. As humans, we're driven by our strong impulses and our beliefs, and these are pretty hard to control and suppress.

Fisher implies that one move out of self-interest may actually benefit you, but would be crucial to others. Thus, if this statement is realized, you could actually make your self-interest not a priority and you could start cooperating. Fisher also wrote about the seven deadly dilemmas which include the game of chicken (which I find amusing). The deadly dilemmas mentioned are very interesting Game Theory problems, which you can learn from, a lot. I like Chapter Four the best, it's where the title of the book comes to life. Rock, paper, and scissors is a game known all over the world, it's present in almost everyone's childhood, and it's very entertaining. The chapter showed that this game can actually help resolve a conflict. This is because it doesn't permit any advantage to anyone, avoiding bias - that is why this is used in situations where it seems like there is no other way for all the players to resolve a problem. Most of the chapters tackled about cooperation, trust, and more - giving emphasis on ways to change the game to avoid the Prisoner's dilemma. On the other hand, the quantum mechanics part was somehow a drag. It could have been cut out from the book in my opinion.

To try to give examples using real-life solutions, Fisher presented various games like the one from Chapter Two; entitled I Cut and You Choose. It tackles about fair division, showing how one's self-interest can be observed but in another turn, can lead to the path of cooperation. As seen in the example: when a person cuts two pieces from a cake, the other would choose a piece he/she wants. And if assuming the cutter likes eating cake, he/she would have to make and cut the pieces of cake into equal halves, to ensure they'd get equal pieces and no one gets more nor less. However, there are situations where you can't just easily apply this. You have to consider the parameters included in the situation. In some of his examples, Fisher only used the ideals and somehow failed to present the other possibilities. But you know, who am I to judge his work? This is only my opinion. Haha.

I would like to meet Fisher; if not in this life, maybe in another, or in another dimension and timespace. Haha. Whatever. Okay, going back..

This is a very entertaining and informative book. It's really great and is recommended for business/economics students. This book is also for both familiar and unfamiliar of the concepts of Game Theory. There are many examples and explanations, so if you just read this really carefully and digest it with pleasure, you sure would appreciate it. The end notes were very enjoyable with trivias and jokes, it supported the book and backed it up with further references. I really liked it. Fisher, through this book. showed that Game Theory is important and can also be understandable. He also showed that Math is really incorporated with the things we do everyday..

Game Theory is something we could use as a guide in understanding behavior towards self-interest and personal gain, rather than its supposed-to-be use as something to direct us what to do in difficult situations.