April 30, 2006
A beautiful mind.
Someone asked me:
“You seem kinna engrossed there, buddy- What does ur business have U studying there?”-
So, for the KuriousMindz….
Game Theory:
Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that studies strategic situations where players choose different actions in an attempt to maximize their returns. First developed as a tool for understanding economic behavior, game theory is now used in many diverse academic fields, ranging from biology and psychology to sociology and philosophy but most importantly for The Ratchet- POKER!
Game theory is a distinct and interdisciplinary approach to the study of human behavior. The disciplines most involved in game theory are mathematics, economics and the other social and behavioral sciences.
1) What does it mean to choose strategies “rationally” when outcomes depend on the strategies chosen by others and when information is incomplete?
2) In “games” that allow mutual gain (or mutual loss) is it “rational” to cooperate to realize the mutual gain (or avoid the mutual loss) or is it “rational” to act aggressively in seeking individual gain regardless of mutual gain or loss?
3) If the answers to 2) are “sometimes,” in what circumstances is aggression rational and in what circumstances is cooperation rational?
4) In particular, do ongoing relationships differ from one-off encounters in this connection?
5) Can moral rules of cooperation emerge spontaneously from the interactions of rational egoists?
6) How does real human behavior correspond to “rational” behavior in these cases?
7) If it differs, in what direction? Are people more cooperative than would be “rational?” More aggressive? Both?
In his earliest work, von Neumann made a striking discovery. He found that if poker players maximize their rewards, they do so by bluffing; and, more generally, that in many games it pays to be unpredictable. This was not qualitatively new, of course — baseball pitchers were throwing change-up pitches before von Neumann wrote about mixed strategies. Because of interesting games like the prisoner’s dilemma, in which rational self-interest hurts everyone, game theory has been used in political science, ethics and philosophy. Finally, game theory has recently drawn attention from computer scientists because of its use in artificial intelligence and cybernetics.
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Although similar to decision theory, game theory studies decisions that are made in an environment where various players interact. In other words, game theory studies choice of optimal behavior when costs and benefits of each option are not fixed, but depend upon the choices of other individuals.
In addition to its academic interest, game theory has received attention in popular culture. A Nobel Prize-winning game theorist, John Nash was the subject of the 1998 biography by Sylvia Nasar and the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind
Questions? Comments? Anyone wanna play Pok-ah?! 
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Comments(1)
The next guy standing NEX To “The Next guy”…. 
Oh!!! KAY!!!!”
Doesn’t mean you have: A>D>D.
Right??!?!
Visual time consuming Activity.
