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> It explains, for example, why I do not rob my neighbor's house when I know they are on vacation even though I could almost certainly get away with it and the

by slibhb 5y ago

> It explains, for example, why I do not rob my neighbor's house when I know they are on vacation even though I could almost certainly get away with it and thereby achieve a short-term profit for myself. Does game theory explain why other people do steal? Should we assume that thieves' circumstances are different enough that stealing is rational? Game theory is sometimes a useful way of thinking about human behavior but it's a stretch to say it "explains a lot of it". The various ways people come to value things and make decisions are opaque. It's begging the question to insist that these processes are explicable by game theory, especially when so much human behavior seems inexplicable.

lisper 5y ago
> Does game theory explain why other people do steal? Yes. > Should we assume that thieves' circumstances are different enough that stealing is rational? You don't have to assume it. It's a fact. There's a reason that thieves come mainly from a certain socioeconomic group. > it's a stretch to say it "explains a lot of it". No, it is not a stretch at all. If you think it is, then you don't understand game theory. You should read this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation
- slibhb 5y ago
  You said "a lot of human behavior is explained by game theory". Why can't we say that all human behavior is explained by game theory? How do we differentiate between an instance of behavior that is explained by game theory and one that isn't? It's useful and interesting to say "here's a theory that predicts ways in which people actually behave". It's begging the question to claim the theory actually explains human behavior, which remains opaque.
  - lisper 5y ago
    > Why can't we say that all human behavior is explained by game theory? We can. But game theory turns on the parameters of the payoff matrix, and those are "hidden variables" that are hard to measure. But they are constrained by ESS requirements, which is the thing that makes game-theory non-vacuous. It's analogous to saying that weather is explained by fluid dynamics.

by slibhb 5y ago

lisper 5y ago

> Does game theory explain why other people do steal? Yes. > Should we assume that thieves' circumstances are different enough that stealing is rational? You don't have to assume it. It's a fact. There's a reason that thieves come mainly from a certain socioeconomic group. > it's a stretch to say it "explains a lot of it". No, it is not a stretch at all. If you think it is, then you don't understand game theory. You should read this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation

slibhb 5y ago
You said "a lot of human behavior is explained by game theory". Why can't we say that all human behavior is explained by game theory? How do we differentiate between an instance of behavior that is explained by game theory and one that isn't? It's useful and interesting to say "here's a theory that predicts ways in which people actually behave". It's begging the question to claim the theory actually explains human behavior, which remains opaque.
- lisper 5y ago
  > Why can't we say that all human behavior is explained by game theory? We can. But game theory turns on the parameters of the payoff matrix, and those are "hidden variables" that are hard to measure. But they are constrained by ESS requirements, which is the thing that makes game-theory non-vacuous. It's analogous to saying that weather is explained by fluid dynamics.