On Mon, 10 Oct 2005, Doug Henwood wrote:
> game theory always struck me as mostly empty wankery - can someone
> convince me to the contrary?
Well I mainly agree with you. Once you call it a theory you've probably already entered the baroque stage. Certainly when add numbers.
But there are two or three exemplar arguments from game theory that I think are pretty useful. I think you'd probably agree but it's worth mentioning just to check.
One is the prisoner's dilemma, which is can be used to bullshit, but can also be used to make many complicated things simple and clear (e.g. the main point of Hobbes, various public policy and collective action dilemmas, etc.)
On a more general level, the PD allows a very snappy way to show the limits of both rationality and individualism. And that is often useful when sallying forth against the dominant fairy tale discourse.
Secondly, the second generation of prisoner's dilemma thinking -- the repeated game experiments, and the demonstration that trust actually make rational sense -- is IMHO another usefully clear reductio ad absurdam argument. Not only for people on the left, but even more when you are discussing the possibilities of international cooperation and why it isn't impossible.
I personally think the real home domain of this kind of reasoning is strategy, and especially when you are talking about international relations. Because as many people have noted, individual countries really are much more like the mythical individuals of the state of nature than human beings ever were. They really can survive in many ways by themselves if they have to, and they really can regard themselves as masters of their own domain.
And since I believe the problem of constructing a more progressive world order is an increasingly important one; and that it starts with explaining what it's not only more rational than our present crazy system but possible; that this kind of reasoning will continue to be useful.
But again, since there are no numbers or formulae involved, this sort of "resolving the prisoner's dilemma reasoning" might not count as game theory.
Michael