Ok... The heading has got nothing to do with the fact that none of you guys are reading my blog.(Humph)(though it would be very nice if all of us folks followed each other around[in a non gay way of course])
Th heading is actually a reference to Monsieur John Nash(I do believe the movie "A Beautiful Mind" has made him science's new Feynman). game theory has a very interesting if somewhat downright absurd and chilling proposition called Prisoner's dilemma.
The problem statement is this. Two prisoners are caught but the police doesn't have enough for a conviction. They are each offered a deal. If one person "defects" (i.e gives away his partner) he gets to go free while the other person gets 10 years. If both "defect" each gets five years. If both "cooperate"(with each other) they get six months. each does not know the decision of the other before the court room is entered. According to game theory, the best way to play is to defect("Holy Shiiii!!!!" is what i said.) since it offers you a better than the worst solution irrespective of the other player's choice. And guess what.. If this is iterated, with you given the option of changing your decision after you know his, the best way is still to defect(At this point I thought it became plain dumb.)
Whatever happened to the good ole Omerta I ask ya?
Anyway thats not what this blog is about so chill..... All I ask is this. Seeing as our college intends to make murderers out of all our batch students(yup they're "Offering" us Beryl again) and if I may say so myself we'll probably pull off those heinous acts of crimes without planting too much evidence(Heck! in a mob everyone's safe) I only ask that yoll cooperate . Dont rant on your partners.... If everyone cooperates(though by theory no one should) it offers the best possible Nash equilibrium. Yup that s right... the best equilibrium is not by defecting but by not following the the original game theory and cooperating... communism on the rise??
2 comments:
ok guys... Small correction.... It was Pareto who suggested the original solution to the Prisoner's Dilemma. Nash gave us the "united we stand" approach.....
I have got to agree with you completely.... Was recently sitting in the airport and silently observing what was going on.. people who once would have never imagined flying were there (me included) but the tiredness, the frustration, the irritation and the foul language emanating out of their mouths along with the stale garlic they would have probably consumed in the morning... created an atmosphere which was stiffling.. but give it to chennaiites.. they aren't half as snobbish as the overdressed, over made up irritating up country people, speaking nothing but beavily accented star world 'inglish' imagining themselves to be god sent, but in truthall that only camouflaging the universal truth of the state of their minds for I also spotted the same fear.. fear of having to meet eye to eye.. I wondered, what has happened to the simple, smiling people, who never looked down upon you or looked suspiciously at you.. I thank god that I was in such an atmosphere only for the stipulated waiting period it was needed of me...If you can sustain this, you can sustain anything.. after all you should swim in the ocean amidst the heavy currents and emerge as a swimmer...
Good piece of writing though....
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