Bill Clinton talks game theory

I recently finished the book Nonzero by Robert Wright. The book was very informative and suggests cultural evolution has an arrow towards larger positive sum interactions.

It turns out the book is a favorite of former President Bill Clinton. The book’s website led me to a talk by Clinton where he praises and gives a great introduction to the book.

Clinton talks a bit about game theory in the first couple of minutes and I thought it would be fun to share his remarks:

Youtube video: Bill Clinton talks about Non-Zero

Here’s a quote from the talk:

In game theory a zero-sum game is like a presidential election or the NBA finals. In order for one side to win, somebody else has to lose. A non-zero sum game is a peace process. In order for one side to win, the other side has to win. Both have to win.

(You will notice this is slightly wrong. In a non-zero sum game, one side can win and other other can lose, the classic example being the dominant strategy of the Prisoner’s dilemma. A non-zero sum game is one where the total payoffs are either positive or negative–there is an asymmetry that one side can gain a different amount than the other loses, or that both sides can lose, or that both sides can win)