The Dilemma Guide

(A BOOK REVIEW OF LEN FISHER’S ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS: GAME THEORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE)

     Game theory is a new concept that needs to be redelivered to the general audiences and this book is a dish in a silver platter.

     I am a bookworm of some sort and I am having mixed feelings about this book. It is pretty substantial when it comes to game theory and applications but it is not an easy read at all. Here I’d do my ritual pros and cons for this book starting by the cons.

     As I’ve said, it is not an easy read which means if you are not an avid reader or just strives to be a bookworm for any reasons which I would not address then I’d say this is not a book for you. It requires time and time and time and two bags of Lays to even finish reading sections 1 to 2. Just imagine all the fats you would’ve ingested by the time you reach the end notes (would be nasty).

     Moreover, the book follows a lazy pace. I personally like slow- paced books but for the love of trees, the pacing just sucked out its energetic glow. Yes, I understand that Fisher has to elaborately explain the details but that just what exactly makes it a mess. Sophisticated points = hard to understand = more time explaining = more time understanding. And that is a no-no if you are aiming for the general audience.

     Moving on the pros of this book, first stop is uniqueness. Not moments in my whole life have I ever encountered game-theory until now. And I don’t know if I am that dumb or uneducated but the concept is literally new to me and as I’ve read through the parts, it somehow opened a new way of thinking, seeing and understanding the everyday dilemma everyone encounters every day.

     The book also actually presents new theorems and ideas which are not necessarily part of the growing-up-books in mathematics. Such diversity of new ideologies creates a very effective learning space for the readers and that I think is the trump card of the book.

     Lastly, it has technically fewer pages than most of the theory-based books that I’ve read so it somehow eases out the tension among the sophisticated wordy paragraphs. And also to consider that the “notes” section at the end which picked up the pace was about 50 pages; now that is something to look forward to.

This book is like an epitome of how to survive everyday life and I’d say even though it requires some tremendous effort to understand and digest, it is one of the most helpful self-help (so as to categorize) books I’ve read.