Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust: How Game Theory, Strategy and Probability Rule Our Lives

Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust: How Game Theory, Strategy and Probability Rule Our Lives

by Haim Shapira
Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust: How Game Theory, Strategy and Probability Rule Our Lives

Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust: How Game Theory, Strategy and Probability Rule Our Lives

by Haim Shapira

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Overview

"One of the best Decision Making and Game Theory books of all time." —Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn founder) and Nassim Nicholas Taleb (author of Black Swan), BookAuthority

An accessible, light-hearted exploration of Game Theory—what it is, why it’s important, and how it can help us in our daily lives

 
Game Theory is the mathematical formalization of interactive decision-making—it assumes that each player's goal is to maximize his/her benefit, whatever it may be. Players may be friends, foes, political parties, states, or any entity that behaves interactively, whether collectively or individually. One of the problems with game analysis is the fact that, as a player, it’s very hard to know what would benefit each of the other players. Some of us are not even clear about our own goals or what might actually benefit us.
 
In Gladiators, Pirates, and Games of Trust, Haim Shapira shares humorous anecdotes and insightful examples to explain Game Theory, how it affects our daily lives, and how the different interactions between decision-makers can play out. In this book, you will:

   • Meet Nobel Laureate John F. Nash and familiarize yourself with Nash equilibrium
   • Learn the basic ideas of the art of negotiation
   • Visit the gladiators’ ring and apply for a coaching position
   • Build an airport and divide inheritance
   • Issue ultimatums and learn to trust
   • Review every aspect of the prisoner’s dilemma and learn about the importance of cooperation
   • Learn how statistics bolster lies
   • And much more

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781786780645
Publisher: Watkins Media
Publication date: 02/14/2017
Sold by: Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format: eBook
Pages: 176
File size: 871 KB

About the Author

Haim Shapira was born in Lithuania in 1962 and immigrated to Israel in 1977, where he earned a PhD in mathematical genetics for his dissertation on Game Theory and another PhD for his research about the mathematical and philosophical approaches to Infinity. He teaches mathematics, psychology, philosophy, and literature. Haim is an author of seven best-selling books. Shapira is not trying to make his readers agree with him, but simply encourages them to enjoy thinking. He is one of Israel's most popular and in-demand speakers and gives lectures on creativity and strategic thinking, existential philosophy and philosophy in children's literature, happiness and optimism, nonsense and insanity, imagination and the meaning of meaning, as well as friendship and love. He is also an accomplished pianist and an avid collector of anything beautiful.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Diner's Dilemma: (How to Lose Many Friends Really Fast) 3

Chapter 2 The Blackmailer's Paradox 8

Chapter 3 The Ultimatum Game 15

Chapter 4 Games People Play 26

Spotlight The Keynesian Beauty Contest 48

Chapter 5 The Marriage Broker: (A Little on the Connections between the Nash Equilibrium, Buffaloes, Matchmaking and the Nobel Prize) 52

Intermezzo The Gladiators Game 76

Chapter 6 The Godfather and the Prisoner's Dilemma 78

Chapter 7 Penguin Mathematics 93

Intermezzo The Raven Paradox 104

Chapter 8 Going, Going … Gone!: (A Brief Introduction to Auction Theory) 107

Intermezzo The Newcomb Paradox 118

Chapter 9 The Chicken Game and the Cuban Missile Crisis 120

Chapter 10 Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics 131

Chapter 11 Against All Odds 147

Chapter 12 On Fairly Sharing a Burden 156

Chapter 13 Trust Games 162

Chapter 14 How to Gamble If You Must 169

Conclusion Game Theory Guidelines 173

Reference Notes 177

Bibliography 181

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