{"id":46863,"date":"2012-05-04T11:20:53","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T16:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=46863"},"modified":"2012-04-30T16:03:43","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T21:03:43","slug":"game-theory-and-the-prisoners-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/05\/04\/game-theory-and-the-prisoners-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Theory and the Prisoners’ Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cross-posted at Montclair SocioBlog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know much about game theory.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always found it hard to squeeze real-life situations into the shape of a prisoner\u2019s-dilemma matrix and to think of life as a game.\u00a0 A game show, on the other hand, is a game.\u00a0 And the final round of the British show \u201cGolden Balls\u201d is totally Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma.\u00a0 (Shouldn\u2019t that apostrophe be moved to make it be Prisoners\u2019 Dilemma? After all, it\u2019s not solitaire.)<\/p>\n

You can get the idea of the set-up in the first two minutes of this clip.*\u00a0 But don\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 Watch the full six minutes, and appreciate the ingenuity of the strategy played by Nick (he\u2019s the guy in the brown shirt on the right of the screen).<\/p>\n

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SPOILER SPACE, which I\u2019ll fill with the \u201cGolden Balls\u201d matrix.<\/p>\n

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In many prisoner\u2019s dilemma scenarios, the prisoners are separated and can\u2019t discuss their options.\u00a0 In \u201cGolden Balls,\u201d they can talk things over, the only catch being that each player is well aware that the other might be lying.\u00a0 Earlier rounds of the game are designed to encourage lying.<\/p>\n

Nick is ingenious in two ways.\u00a0 First, he brings in an option that \u201cGolden Balls\u201d does not include but cannot exclude: the offer to split the loot 50-50 after the show even if the show gives the entire amount to him.<\/p>\n

Second (and here is where my lame game-theory knowledge is showing), by convincingly maintaining that he is going to Steal, he destroys the Nash equilibrium that \u201cGolden Balls\u201d tries to create.\u00a0 He forces Ibraham to choose Split, for Ibraham\u2019s position now becomes this:<\/p>\n