Math Appreciation

Game Theory
“Games” are any situations where you have to make a move and in each move you have,
there is a corresponding consequence for what you do. This does not have to mean that you
are playing a game in the usual social context. Any decision making process what will
involve another party participating while following the same rules or situation decided upon
is already considered a game.

I feel that some game theory situations may be difficult to solve but the different solution
concepts help me make decisions as to how to go about a game. A Strategy allows me to be
really good at what I plan. Not a guarantee yes, but a better strategy than none nonetheless.

Game theory sometimes can make a game more complicated than it is, however it gives
you a better way to create strategies and a more thorough way of “seeing” possibilities.

Game theory is significant because the application to this in the real world occurs at almost
any type of decision or move ever made. Math being in the picture or not, you make
decisions everyday and game theory is one of the ways we can understand these decisions in
the numbers.

In most situations, I have to make a deal with my Lola in going home and going to
school. I live in cainta rizal and I study at DLSU Manila. The context being that my mom has
a stroke and has been in therapy in st. luke’s medical hospital. Whenever I decide to hitch a
ride with my mom’s transportation, I would either save time or when I decide not to, I would
have more travel time if I used a different way of getting to school. Simple situations like
this like making a deal and changing it ever now and then depending on my school schedule
is a very good example of a game where I strategize, make moves and see my payoffs (or
rather endure my payoffs).

I am interested to study Game theory because the decisions that I do might just be able to
be executed with more thought. The benefits will be better and you can have a statistically
better edge than your opponent. This I think is slightly difficult. But as I would say, math is
simply complicated. Not hard. Not easy. Not simple. It just means that there are times where
many simple things happen so that you may be overwhelmed. But it’s not hard. So is Game
theory for me. I found this lesson to be very insightful.

JP Ocampo,
ID 115 371 32