Games People Play: Thinking Strategically with Game Theory

Name: Games People Play: Thinking Strategically with Game Theory
Rating: 4.2 (261 reviews)

Use game theory in thinking strategically in any life situation

Last updated 5/2017

English

What you'll learn

Identify different parts of our brain, and how they correspond to different voices in our head
Understand primary motivations, including complex urges such as craving fairness and independence
Seek the state of flow, a mental state of intense concentration and joy, brought on by work
Classify personalities into 32 categories using the Big Five Personality Traits
Understand how memory works, why it is reconstructive and associative

6 sections • 36 lectures • 5h 35m total length

Opportunities for thinking Strategically14:49
Learn how interactive thinking and utility maximization define strategic games, distinguishing decision making in isolation from multiplayer conflicts and guiding choices.
Examples of Strategic Games6:00
Game Theory as a framework for Strategic Thinking6:27
Classifying Strategic Games5:19
The Order of Play : Sequential vs Simultaneous games8:17
What's in it for me? : Zero-sum vs Non-Zero sum games5:06
Tell me your secrets : Asymmetric Information games7:30
Can we make a deal? : Cooperative vs Non-cooperative games6:08
Thinking Long term : Repeated games4:53
Bending the rules : Fixed vs Manipulable games3:52

The Fundamental Components of a Strategic Game3:56
Know your Options : Strategies11:00
What's in it for me? : Payoffs4:45
Players choose from multiple strategies, and their choices produce outcomes. Payoffs assign numerical values to outcomes, capturing preferences in zero-sum and non-zero-sum games.
Playing smart : The assumption of rationality9:32
Rules are common knowledge5:53
How do you solve a game?8:25

Thinking ahead with Sequential games3:11
Discover how sequential games are represented mathematically with game trees and how players anticipate future moves. Apply backward induction to solve game trees and identify equilibrium strategies through multiple examples.
Visualizing a Game Tree18:31
Solving a Game Tree: Rollback Equilibrium9:38
Example 1: To smoke or not to smoke?13:51
Explore backward induction in sequential games through a smoking dilemma; compare a single-player decision tree with a two-player game, revealing rollback equilibrium and the impact of changing preferences on outcomes.
Example 2: Voting in a Legislature I22:16
Example 3: Voting in a Legislature II10:36
Example 4: Computer Chess7:22

Imperfect Information in Simultaneous Games9:27
Building a Payoff Table10:59
Build and interpret payoff tables for simultaneous two-player games, using strategies left and right, to understand payoffs, the strategic form, and the zero-sum mini max method.
Nash Equilibrium for Simultaneous Games7:17
Properties of the Nash Equilibrium21:03
Classifying Simultaneous Games4:43
The Dominance Method18:16
The Best Response Method4:25
The Minimax Method for Zero-sum games8:14

This is a practical applied course in game theory, that's about thinking strategically in any life situation, personal or professional.

Let's parse that.

Game Theory: Almost every interaction we engage in involves participants with some level of conflict all trying to achieve their own goals. Game theory provides a scientific framework to analyze these situations and identify the best way forward.
Thinking Strategically: Game theory requires you to analyze the motivations of every player, their value systems, strengths and weaknesses and how all of these interact with each other.