Bundle_Gerbe comments on Game Theory As A Dark Art - Less Wrong

50 Post author: Yvain 24 July 2012 03:27AM

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Comment author: Bundle_Gerbe 25 July 2012 08:25:30PM 2 points [-]

The specific problem with calling the last game a "prisoner's dilemma" is that someone learning about game theory from this article may well remember from it, "there is a cool way to coordinate on the prisoner's dilemma using coin flips based on correlated equilibria" then be seriously confused at some later point.

Comment author: TrE 25 July 2012 08:47:15PM *  2 points [-]

Of course, by changing the payoff matrix, Nick also changed the game, so after him putting in some more of his stakes, it wasn't Golden Balls / PD anymore but a game which had the structure Nick favoured. What is to be learned from this article is how to design games to your own profit - whether you are watching from the outside or playing from the inside.

Comment author: TrE 26 July 2012 06:17:53AM 2 points [-]

Apparently I didn't quite understand what you wanted to tell me - I'm sorry! Yes, as an introduction to game theory, this indeed is a problem. Example #6 is a bit out of place for that, as game theory here didn't work in practice in the sense that it didn't make accurate predictions.