Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction by Morton D. Davis
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.99 You Save: $5.96 (54%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction
Book Review: good introduction to game theory
Summary: 4 Stars
although not as fun to read as evolution of cooperation, this book is still an easy read and broader in scope. there is a little bit of everything in here. this is a good book if you want practice on making decisions even though the author cites research that shows we naturally do a good job learning how to make decisions in games without formally studying.Book Review: The second best
Summary: 4 Stars
The second best after "The Compleat Strategyst" at a primer level, highly redable.
Yes, unfortunately enough, I am over the age of 13 (65)
Book Review: Recreational Read
Summary: 3 Stars
There seems to be a whole cottage industry of books on Game Theory. Not many of them are non-technical, and this is probably the shortest of them. So this is a plus to those with no background and who may not go any further. This book suffers from being slightly out of date.Game Theory is a subfield not of mathematics but of economics. This despite the fact that one of the greatest mathematicians, Von Neumann, had invented this and that at the advanced level it demands a good deal of higher math. This is a reason why John Nash won the Nobel for economics - and not a Fields Medal (for mathematics).
I think it's dangerous to make life-and-death decisions based on Game Theory. First, it's hardly a real science, only the application of mathematics to social questions. Second, you can easily make an error in your calculations.
This brings to mind Franklin's moral algebra. He advised a friend (Priestly, I think) on how to make intelligent decisions: by dividing the pros and cons into two columns, then giving a value to each in terms of importance (1-10, for example), adding up both columns and comparing the two sums. The larger sum should be the decision. And then he cautioned that real decisions are not necessarily made in this scientific way, although the exercise really sharpens your thinking. At a minimum it forces you to think of all possible pros and cons of a problem. In the end, though, one big pro/con (or two) may decide the matter. And even then, you can't be sure you've made the right decision because maybe you've forgotten something in the arithmetic. Still this is a rational way to think something through, especially on major questions.
The utility of Game Theory is likely to be much less than Franklin's scheme because PEOPLE IN THE REAL WORLD DON'T BOTHER USING IT. Would Roosevelt and Truman have done much better when dealing with Stalin if they had been acquainted with Game Theory? I doubt it, although Game Theory impressed some of the geeks in the Pentagon. (Nor vice versa. Stalin would have just laughed if somebody had tried to "sell" him this academic exercise. He relied on his own judgment.) To this day I have yet to hear that Game Theory is the secret of success of top managers like Jack Welch, Warren Buffett and Sandy Weill.
This book is a good intro to the field and teaches you the basic vocab specialists use. Read it like a book on recreational brainteasers, and you'll have lots of fun. I know I did.
Book Review: Hit and miss
Summary: 2 Stars
The chapter on Zero-Sum game is excellent. However, when it comes to non-zero-sum games, it becomes very confusing. The examples, and the characters in the examples are inconsistent and confusing.