Games with D'Artagnan!

Do you know who these four people are ?

The Hero’s Journey

Movie Time!

Let us watch a (very ) small part of this movie, The Three Musketeers -1973

If this does not work… the same clip is available here:

https://www.tcm.com/video/454255/three-musketeers-the-1973-movie-clip-we-are-only-three/

Fiction Time!

Let us read a bit of good old classic fiction !! This is the Conversation that occurs right before the duel scene we saw in the video above.

Chapter 5. THE KING’S MUSKETEERS AND THE CARDINAL’S GUARDS.¹
Keep an eye on the conversation!

And an ear open for Frenchified English, I beseech you!!

Discussion-1

What emotions or motivations are portrayed by the characters in the story?

• Reward
• Regret aka FOMO
• Risk
• Retribution

Nice Guys Finish First

Discussion-2

Are there COSTs to ACTIONs? Who decides?

• Players
• Payoffs
• Game Matrix
• Strategies

What strategies are possible as a bowler in Cricket? As a batsman? What strategies are permitted? By whom?

Discussion-3

And in this game ?

https://criticalcommons.org/view?m=vufgXphCO

The Game of Trust

And finally, let us play a Game, the Game of Trust (Website) !

Robert Axelrod’s Study on Cooperation

This is a famous study of the Iterated Prisoners’ Dilemma by Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation,(PDF)

And here is Robert Axelrod on the RadioLab Podcast

Spotify:

Transcript: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/104010-one-good-deed-deserves-another

Prisoners’ Dilemma: A Case Study

The story of Southwest Airlines’ Early Bird Check-In(Weblink)

What are the Assumptions in Game Theory?

• That gains and pains can be quantified
• Rationality
• Players have identical and opposed aims (Symmetry)
• In most cases, the game is zero-sum
• Some form of spoke/unspoken agreement as to what may and may not be done ( i.e Rules of the Game )

Here is a good Summary of modern thinking about Human Cooperation: The Evolution of Human Cooperation, PDF

Game Theory Pop Music and TV ad Playlist !!

1. Chris de Burgh: Don’t Pay the Ferryman! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-a5TAL-IXs

2. Abba: The Name of the Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Qf_7HM1cM

3. Bachchan vs Warsi: Want a Pepsi - Tit for Tat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc6QZcxbMZE

4. The Princess Bride - Battle of Wits - Which Strategy to Use here? (Asymmetric Information) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMz7JBRbmNo

5. The Gods Must be Crazy (Brinkmanship) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LvViKftRnA

References:

1. John D. Williams, The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy, RAND Corporation, ISBN:9780833042224. This is a very humourous and fun book on Game Theory ! It is available for free online at the RAND Corporation Website.

2. Ken Binmore,Playing for Real: A Text on Game Theory, ISBN:9780195300574, Oxford University Press, March 2007. Available (here.)

3. Brams Steven J., 1994. “Game Theory and Literature,” Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 32-54, January.PDF

4. Avinash Dixit, Susan Skeath, David Reiley, Games of strategy, ISBN: 9780393124446, New York :W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.

5. Alexander Mehlmann,The game’s afoot! Game theory in myth and paradox, American Mathematical Society 2000. (AMS Bookstore.)