Game theory in Gattaca

Applying for a job is often a game of signaling. The strategy is to highlight good signals, like grades or references, while downplaying bad signals, like lack of work experience or poor teamwork skills.

The trickier part is signals you cannot control like gender, race, and height. It’s nearly impossible to conceal these signals, so you simply let them be, and you hope you get equal opportunity as the law stipulates.

But what if all your employer cared about was these genetic traits? What would you do then?

This is a question addressed in the 1997 film Gattaca. The story takes place in a not-too-distant future with advanced genetic engineering.

The protagonist Vincent Freeman is a love child who is not genetically perfected like the rest of society. Vincent tries to get jobs but he is thwarted when he gets to the interview. While the law says you cannot discriminate, it is impossible to enforce and hence it is becomes meaningless:

My father was right. It didn’t matter how much I lied on my resume, my real C.V. was in my cells. Why should anybody invest all that money to train me, when there are a thousand other applicants with a far cleaner profile? Of course, it’s illegal to discriminate -”genoism” it’s called – but no one takes the laws seriously.

If you refuse to disclose, they can always take a sample from a doorhandle…or a handshake…even the saliva off your application form.

But for the most part we know who we are. And if all else fails, a legal drug test can just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company.

It’s a tough game to play. Genetically enhanced humans are happy to submit to tests because they have nothing to hide. The only people who would refuse a test, legal or not, are the genetically disadvantaged.

Genetic discrimination leads to a new type of underclass, as explained in the following clip:

Youtube video: Gattaca – the new underclass

As hinted in the end of the clip, Vincent takes matters into his own hands and finds a way to fake his genetic signals. This gets him into his dream job and sets the stage for the rest of the movie which is a test of how far Vincent will go to reach his final goal.