Game Theory. How Other People’s Strategies Control Us

Game theory is a decision-making method. It suggests that the goal of each player is to maximize their benefit, whatever it may be. Friends, enemies, political parties, and states can all play; in other words, anyone or anything can participate. There is one problem in game analysis: it is very difficult for a player to know what offers benefits to all the others, and some of us can hardly even imagine our own goals and benefits. Through many examples, Chaim Shapiro demonstrates what game theory is and how various interactions among decision-makers can end. «Can game theory improve our ability to make everyday decisions? Opinions differ here. Some experts are confident that game theorists have a decisive influence on nearly all events in the world. But there are also other experts who believe that game theory is nothing more than entertaining mathematics, and they are unwilling to concede. The truth lies somewhere between these poles, though not exactly in the middle. In any case, game theory is an exciting area of thought, and it helps us understand a great deal in solving various life problems.» (Chaim Shapiro)