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Game Theory at 190mph

Posted by michael on Sunday February 23, 2003 @05:24PM from the bump-and-run dept.

cameronm writes "A recent article in Slate discusses the value of NASCAR racing as a tool to study Game Theory. You can view the original study at FirstMonday."

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Re:Game Theory? by splatbang · 2003-02-23 17:50 · Score: 5, Informative

Game Theory (GT) is a mathematical field all about choices: given a set of knowledge, build a set of choices that will lead to the greatest expected outcome.

GT can be applied to games, since games generally consist of a set of choices. But the term is more often heard in economic circles: stock market, insurance calculations, portfolio planning... But don't limit it to that either. GT can be applied to most any sort of competition, such as competition for food sources between predator species, or trying to find the shortest/quickest way through the lines at a supermarket.

A number of different factors influence your choices. How much information do I know? How much information does my opponent(s) know? Do they know I know what they know? Can I influence my opponent's choices such that we both get a better outcome? All these things will change my strategy.