Comments on: Lying students and games of coordination http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/ Articles on game theory and personal finance Tue, 22 May 2012 15:59:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: » Lying Students and Games of Coordination » Cornell Info 2040 - Networks http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/comment-page-1/#comment-6340 » Lying Students and Games of Coordination » Cornell Info 2040 - Networks Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:17:33 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/?p=1731#comment-6340 [...] http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/ Posted in Topics: Education These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...] [...] http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/ Posted in Topics: Education These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...]

]]> By: Eric Cox http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/comment-page-1/#comment-5708 Eric Cox Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:37:28 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/?p=1731#comment-5708 Just an aside, the same story is used in Dixit, Skeath and Reiley's Games of Strategy (an intro game theory text). They note that it came to them via students who received it as an email legend. Just an aside, the same story is used in Dixit, Skeath and Reiley’s Games of Strategy (an intro game theory text). They note that it came to them via students who received it as an email legend.

]]> By: William Spaniel http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/comment-page-1/#comment-5707 William Spaniel Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:46:27 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/?p=1731#comment-5707 Discussion Question #1 I would write out an incredibly detailed account of what occurred and hope my friend did the same. If he did, then our stories' similarities might be enough to convince the professor that we were being honest, even if his prior was otherwise. Discussion Question #2 Busted engine. Maybe with a bit of fire. There's not much you can do about that except get a new engine...and they don't have a spare sitting in the trunk. It also prevents the professor from asking you which engine it was. Discussion Question #3 I would ask for more details about the story. Who was driving? What color was the car? Was the hubcap recovered? The odds that liars could get all of these right are pretty low. Discussion Question #4 This one is complicated because it is a stag hunt or not depending on how many elements you have. And given that the values for the stag hunt vary, some of them will be risk dominant, and some won't be. So it's a function of exogenous variables. Critical points for these exogenous variables exist, but they are too hard to solve for without actually making a table and formally deriving equilibria. :) Discussion Question #1
I would write out an incredibly detailed account of what occurred and hope my friend did the same. If he did, then our stories’ similarities might be enough to convince the professor that we were being honest, even if his prior was otherwise.

Discussion Question #2
Busted engine. Maybe with a bit of fire. There’s not much you can do about that except get a new engine…and they don’t have a spare sitting in the trunk. It also prevents the professor from asking you which engine it was.

Discussion Question #3
I would ask for more details about the story. Who was driving? What color was the car? Was the hubcap recovered? The odds that liars could get all of these right are pretty low.

Discussion Question #4
This one is complicated because it is a stag hunt or not depending on how many elements you have. And given that the values for the stag hunt vary, some of them will be risk dominant, and some won’t be. So it’s a function of exogenous variables. Critical points for these exogenous variables exist, but they are too hard to solve for without actually making a table and formally deriving equilibria. :)

]]> By: Presh Talwalkar http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/comment-page-1/#comment-5702 Presh Talwalkar Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:17:02 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/?p=1731#comment-5702 <b><em>Scott</b></em>: As always, great thoughts. I was framing the problem in terms of "best responses." So the thinking is: "If my partner answers option 1, then my best choice is..." "If my partner answers option 2, then my best choice is..." You're right it depends on how many elements you know. One of my tricks in school was to store the molecular weight for each element as a variable on my TI-85--or later the powerful <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001EMLZ2?ie=UTF8&tag=minyoudec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0001EMLZ2" rel="nofollow">TI-89</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=minyoudec-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0001EMLZ2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (For instance, the variable Na was 22.99). I guess I would have had an unfair advantage in option 2--such details are all part of the game! Scott: As always, great thoughts. I was framing the problem in terms of “best responses.” So the thinking is:

“If my partner answers option 1, then my best choice is…”

“If my partner answers option 2, then my best choice is…”

You’re right it depends on how many elements you know. One of my tricks in school was to store the molecular weight for each element as a variable on my TI-85–or later the powerful TI-89 (For instance, the variable Na was 22.99). I guess I would have had an unfair advantage in option 2–such details are all part of the game!

]]> By: anomdebus http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2009/10/13/lying-students-and-games-of-coordination/comment-page-1/#comment-5701 anomdebus Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:15:56 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/?p=1731#comment-5701 The question of how much coordination is needed between two people to cover up a lie appears to me to be a weak point in the 'universe is a computer simulation' theory. You either need to predetermine an indefinite number of things that may not be needed or you need to make things up as you go along and have it be consistent with all previous answers and observations. The question of how much coordination is needed between two people to cover up a lie appears to me to be a weak point in the ‘universe is a computer simulation’ theory.
You either need to predetermine an indefinite number of things that may not be needed or you need to make things up as you go along and have it be consistent with all previous answers and observations.

]]>