All Comments on 'Love, Sex and Game Theory'

We are wandering, and I'm not sure where to.

Or even why.

Lue

Perhaps if you had framed this in terms of Human Reproductive Ecology the work would have been understandable. Even Behavioral Game theory deals with irrational behavior. If you were trying to make a specific point I didn't see it through the superficial setting you employed despite your introduction saying there is no story here.

Funny and thought-provoking.

This story was so good. Loved the way the narrator began with the unstated sense that infinite games are better than finite ones, and then asked himself whether that was true, arrived at the conclusion that for himself he preferred finite games only to discover at the end that that was only partly true! Hard to squeeze character development into a short story.

Also describing a woman's goal to have children and a family as a finite goal which cannot sustain the infinite goal of a long relationship is really insightful. I think it's obvious that stereotypical male finite goals (i.e., getting laid) can interfere with their ability to have real relationships, but much less is said about how women's analogous goals can interfere in similar ways.

Jolly god show!

As a finite game, this story is well told, the concepts are well presented, and the conclusion is appropriate. As an infinite game, this presentation of game theory will reverberate throughout all of time.

LWlurker

Philosophy fails in the face of the prurient.

I liked the discussion about finite vs infinite games, but game theory has a lot more to offer. Consider whether you are in a competitive or a cooperative or a collaborative relationship (or move between these). Also consider Nash equilibrium (opera or ballet versus rodeo or monster truck rally). (BTW if you want more understanding of game theory in a practical sense Papayoanou’s book is the best that I have found). Appreciate the essay!

Actually, the math of infinite games and finite games can be very similar. (My PhD thesis proved a particularly esoteric example of that.) Also, a repeated game is not the same thing as an infinite one. That said, the apparent math and reality of repeated games (finite or infinite) can be quite different from each. Read up on the repeated Prisoner's Dilemma for the best-known cases.

@lue

You may be wondering where this tale was wandering because of a decision you say you made when you were much younger: Not to treat marriage as what the MC calls an infinite game, but to treat it as a long (virtually infinite?) series of finite games (aka sexual affairs). By the MC's reasoning this was a self-defeating strategy, but you seem to have made it work. Apparently your husband went along with your decision for some time, then opted out for reasons you've never explained (at least to my knowledge). I'm not sure whether that means you were a winner (if such games can ever be won), but you seem to have weathered whatever the consequences may have been (if indeed there were any). If nothing else, this makes you an outlier (N.B. outliEr, not outliAr) in this fantasy world called Loving Wives. I have no idea whether or not Game Theory is relevant as Freddie postulates, but it makes a certain amount of sense to me (but then I'm a loser, not an outlier, so what do I know?). I've missed your observations, lady from OZ; keep them coming.

As usual with this author, deep, smart, provocative, very well written, good ideas, great points. Sooo tempting to give it 5 stars.

But I'll dock 2 stars because.... meta alert... felt like there was no point to the story. Like it was a TED lecture stuffed into a literotica envelope. The lecture itself was informative, engaging, and quite insightful. But the envelope was just useless fluff. Like those "no plot" movies, to borrow from the story :)

Clever and funny, a winning combination, just like my wife.