The Joy of Game Theory Quotes

“Before you start yelling at someone for their behavior, see why they are acting that way. Change the game and everyone can win.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“The yardstick for successful people is different than for unsuccessful people. Successful people are criticized for times they fail. Unsuccessful people are praised for times they achieve.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“US Ship: Please change course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course. CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course! US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!! CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Give the student the competitive edge with a gift subscription to The Economist.” It was the specific phrase “competitive edge” that caught my attention. It struck me as a clever way that The Economist's framing the game of subscribing as a Prisoner's Dilemma–with the magazine as the winner.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“the power of the Prisoner's Dilemma: if you can get others to play it, you can end up a winner.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Method 5: Appear Crazy (At Your Own Risk) The normal economic assumption is that people maximize utility or profits. Given a choice of ten cents or no cents, a person would choose ten cents, regardless of what opponents get. Consider the following game, known as the ultimatum game. We will explain this game a bit more in the next section. For now, we cover the basic idea. In the game, there is $1 at stake, and your opponent offers you a take-it or leave-it portion of the dollar. If you accept the split, then you keep your portion, and your opponent gets the rest. If you reject, the $1 is burned and both of you go home with nothing. The game theory solution is that your opponent offers you one cent (or no cents) and you accept. You do not care that you are taken advantage of because, rationally, taking home some money is better than rejecting and taking home nothing. So even if you think a one cent offer is unfair, you do not exact vengeance by rejecting. But let's say you threaten that if you do not get at least 50 cents you will definitely reject”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“The Practical Lesson What is going on? This is a group of smart students that was told the answer to the game. The example illustrates a flaw of IEDS. It can get you reasonable answers if you think players are reasoning out further and further in nested logic. We often do not have an infinite capacity to reason logically, only a bounded ability to reason rationality. The practical answer to what you should write depends on the book answer plus your subjective beliefs about what other people do. It is the combination of book smarts plus social smarts that matters.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“I have my own personal analogy to get over jealousy. I think about success as filling up water”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Perhaps you can win if you play your own game. I play for the long run, and I will find a way to win this game.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Either we must give up the hope that societal preferences could be rational [in the economics sense] ... or we must accept dictatorship.” (Microeconomic Theory by Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green).”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Mystery solved? I think so.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking

“Leaders often have to decide between great outcomes that might backfire and mediocre ones that work for sure. It is what I call “The Leader's Dilemma.” The issue stems in large part because the game has a fixed order. Because the leader has to act first, followers have time to observe flaws and make criticisms. Often, the good outcomes need cooperation so they are risky and less likely to win out. In turn, safer but mediocre outcomes rise to the top.”
― Presh Talwalkar, The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking