MARJORIE CHASOWA (092SIS08)

 Simultaneous actions done through ignoring the other’s choice  No time to make/change decisions in response to the discovery of the others’  Be in both shoes (contender & self) and take the best move for both sides  e.g. Herald & Daily News (eye-catching stories competition behind closed doors)

 Player has an single way that makes one above the contender no matter their response  No need to worry about the contender’s moves  E.g Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade

 E.g Herald & Daily News (Sanctions & AIDS cases)  Herald needs to take the sanctions story because it is the dominant strategy S S A A S S A A Herald’s choices Daily News’ choices

 Dominant strategy is one that makes you better off than you would be if you used any other strategy, no matter what strategy your opponent uses  If you have a dominant strategy, use it

 Eliminate any dominated strategies from consideration & proceed successively  E.g. American football game  Offense is strong at passing & weak at running Counter run counter pass blitz Defense’s strategy run pass Offense’s strategy

 Neither side has dominant strategy as shown by no row with numbers uniformly smaller/larger than those in the other row  Defense had a dominated strategy i.e. blitz

 Team defensive maneuver in which one/more defensive backs are instead sent across the line to the offensive side to try to tackle the quarterback/ disrupt pass attempt

Advantages  Proactively disrupt the offenses play before it develops  Cause enough pressure on the quarterback to force him into a turnover Disadvantages  Offensive linemen are usually trained to recognise the blitzing player before & thus can be picked & stopped prematurely

 If blitz is picked up, the one deep defender will have a bigger territory to guard  Is pass is caught, the receiver can turn a minimal gain into a dangerous play  Blitz can be defeated with more aggressive release moves  So? Blitz should be avoided. Offense will choose to pass & defense best response i.e. pass defense

 Need for squaring the circle in order to get out of the circular reasoning  e.g Herald & Daily News Herald’s response Daily News’ response Daily News’ Prices Herald’s Prices

 None wants to change their move due to need to have more profits and end up at Nash equilibrium  Thus, having exhausted simple avenues of looking for dominant strategies/ avoiding dominated ones, looking for an equilibrium becomes important

1. Circular reasoning gets to nowhere and needs to be avoided  Equilibrium is stable, makes the players have consistent expectations & chose best response 2. Zero-sum games, players interests are opposed strictly & deception is limited 3. Pragmatic, “pudding’s proof is in the eating”

 When an outcome is an equilibrium, it doesn’t necessarily translate into being the best for all as it depends with the circumstances

 Feast implies having much equilibria  Games having many equilibria  e.g. driving to the right/left  E.g. Webby/Pearl calls  Need for common understanding of which equilibrium to pick to reduce confusion

 Implies having no equilibrium  Determinate behaviour should be avoided through mixing moves  Mixing strategy pivotal in cooperation  E.g. Webby/Pearl calls (50% chances)

3 rules of action in simultaneous moves games 1. Look & use dominated strategies 2. Look for & avoid dominated strategies 3. Look for & use an equilibrium

Equilibrium strategies Dominated strategies Dominant strategies

1. How can notions of rationality/ irrationality be explained vs notions of being humane/ethical be explained in the Indiana Jones case?

 THANK YOU  TATENDA