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And what would you do if you then received the following message? "Let's send each other 'purple' or 'green' at random. The first time we send the same color,

And what would you do if you then received the following message? "Let's send each other 'purple' or 'green' at random. The first time we send the same color, our next move is to end the game and announce that color. Send 'yes' as your next message if you agree to this strategy."

brandonmenc 5y ago
Instead of sending "yes" you can send a message outlining a similar strategy (sending colors at random) to agree on one of the two sets of colors. The ability to send arbitrary messages and a logical human on the other end seem to make this trivial, but maybe I'm missing something.
- aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
  The other party can do the same, but describing a slightly different strategy. How would you decide whose strategy to use? In order to agree on a colour, you first must agree on a strategy. In order to agree on a strategy, you first must agree on a strategy to choose the strategy. In order to agree on a strategy to choose the strategy, you first must agree on a strategy to choose the strategy to choose the strategy. ...
  - brandonmenc 5y ago
    Someone can always break the loggerjam by sending the message "I am going to dictate the strategy. Send 'yes' if you agree to this." Again, I think the "logical human on the other end" plus "arbitrary messages" along with the vanishing probability of constantly sending the same messages makes this easy in practice. They're not asking to prove that it halts, but I get what you're saying.
    - aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
      >Someone can always break the loggerjam by sending the message "I am going to dictate the strategy. Send 'yes' if you agree to this." Since the other party is just as logical as you, they can send you the same at the same time... By the way, if you think this is an acceptable solution, then there's no need for the whole random colour and strategy thing; just send "The color will be red. Send yes if you agree to this". If you think this is not an acceptable solution, then neither is yours.
t_serpico 5y ago
To avoid waiting for consensus, how about we decide to each send a random color and in the next turn announce the color that is first alphanumerically? We each know our own color and the color our partner sent.
- GavinMcG 5y ago
  How do you decide this? If you propose this, and they propose a different strategy, what do you expect happens on the next move?

brandonmenc 5y ago

Instead of sending "yes" you can send a message outlining a similar strategy (sending colors at random) to agree on one of the two sets of colors. The ability to send arbitrary messages and a logical human on the other end seem to make this trivial, but maybe I'm missing something.

aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
The other party can do the same, but describing a slightly different strategy. How would you decide whose strategy to use? In order to agree on a colour, you first must agree on a strategy. In order to agree on a strategy, you first must agree on a strategy to choose the strategy. In order to agree on a strategy to choose the strategy, you first must agree on a strategy to choose the strategy to choose the strategy. ...
- brandonmenc 5y ago
  Someone can always break the loggerjam by sending the message "I am going to dictate the strategy. Send 'yes' if you agree to this." Again, I think the "logical human on the other end" plus "arbitrary messages" along with the vanishing probability of constantly sending the same messages makes this easy in practice. They're not asking to prove that it halts, but I get what you're saying.
  - aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
    >Someone can always break the loggerjam by sending the message "I am going to dictate the strategy. Send 'yes' if you agree to this." Since the other party is just as logical as you, they can send you the same at the same time... By the way, if you think this is an acceptable solution, then there's no need for the whole random colour and strategy thing; just send "The color will be red. Send yes if you agree to this". If you think this is not an acceptable solution, then neither is yours.

t_serpico 5y ago

To avoid waiting for consensus, how about we decide to each send a random color and in the next turn announce the color that is first alphanumerically? We each know our own color and the color our partner sent.

GavinMcG 5y ago
How do you decide this? If you propose this, and they propose a different strategy, what do you expect happens on the next move?