Gaming Game-Theory: grokking with your gut

Got 5 minutes to spare and want to really get a gut understanding of game theory, i.e. why/when co-operation works?
Play this game: http://ncase.me/trust/

I especially found it interesting just how much resolving communication errors (step 6) is crucial to making the group trust each other more, even from a pure hard-core winning perspective.

In short:

  • If the game repeats relatively often (finite -> "infinite" games),
  • and mutually co-operating behaviour (win-win) has a bigger benefit than predatory behaviour (win-lose, i.e. zero-sum),
  • then matching the previous/average behaviour of your counterpart leads to not just the best result for you as player, but also to a group of like-minded mostly co-operating players.

I’ll be using this as the game-theory-supported sales pitch how better (authentic) relating and looking for bigger win-win results, ends in a kinder, happier world for all, just by dint of everyone doing the best for themselves.

This explains why it is important to know the reputation of people to have them behave better (and why anonymous feedback goes to nasty trolling so fast), why we are so trusting and co-operative even to strangers, why it is so important to make win-win’s worth more than win-lose (Getting to YES" by Yuri Fischer).

And that reminds me: please consider supporting Nicky for this work on Patreon and make it a win for him too!