Basketball Predictability using Game Theory
Applying a little game theory can help you increase your chances in winning a basketball bracket. According to http://measureofdoubt.com/2011/06/13/game-theory-and-basketball/, a friend was able to gain the upper hand in predicting the outcome of the most NBA playoff games as possible through the use of some game theory. In the scenario, correctly predicting an NBA game […]
Real life example of Braess’s paradox: Boston’s Big Dig
In class, we have discussed an important, yet unintuitive concept: the fact that adding an extra road or increasing capacity in a traffic network can actually increase the average travel time. This is called Braess’s paradox, and one real life example can be seen with one of Boston’s largest capital projects to date: The Big […]
Chainsaw, Shotgun, Math. Which will you choose in the Zombie Apocalypse?
As an effect of the uprising in Zombie pop culture it is common to hear questions asked like “What weapon would you choose when the zombies take over the planet?” or “How would you stop the Zombie Apocalypse?”. Now that those questions have become more popular than George A. Romero could have ever imagined, a […]
The Second-Price Auction in Action
http://cheaptalk.org/2011/02/28/the-accidentally-generalized-second-price-auction/ When it comes to the Vickrey auction, also called the second-price auction, the way buyers bid is no mystery. The dominant strategy of bidders in this kind of auction is to bid their true value of the object. This way, if they are the highest bidder, they have a payoff once they pay the […]
Game Theory in Airline Customer Service
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/rip-offs/10-things-your-airline-wont-tell-you-22910/#articleTabs Having been on several trips via plane where I was extremely dissatisfied with the customer service and the inability of some planes to ever get off the ground, I searched for articles relating to airline inefficiency, well aware I was not alone. This smartmoney.com article gives ten simple things airlines will not tell their […]
Power of Social Network: Twitter
Earlier this month, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Green Day Billie Joe Armstrong was kicked off from a Southwest Airlines for having pants that hung too low. When he was kicked off the plane, he tweeted “Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low!” on his BJAofficial twitter page […]
Game Theory in Movies – The Princess Bride
Link to Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSEmcbU2y4A In order to make movies both complex and interesting many screenwriters employ game theory unknowingly within their plots. One classic example of this is in the 1987 version of the movie “The Princess Bride.” In this movie there is a scene known as the “Battle of Wits” in which the main […]
Contagiousness in Networks: The Tipping Point and Strength in Weak Ties
Link to Malcolm Gladwell’s book website: A tipping point is the critical moment at which an idea, product, trend or behavior crosses a threshold and leads to irreversible development. Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, reveals the importance of networks in everyday life, especially in epidemics. Trends come and go, but what does it take […]
Coke vs Pepsi
The article can be found at: http://www.science20.com/hammock_physicist/survival_stupidest-77846 Recently, in class, we have been talking a lot about game theory. We have concentrated on the infamous Prisoner’s dilemma, coordination games, zero-sum games and anti-coordination games. After learning about these various games and their Nash equilibriums, I began seeing games everywhere. While buying a bottle of coke […]
Networks of the Brain
http://gizmodo.com/5843117/scientists-reconstruct-video-clips-from-brain-activity On September 22 2011, UC Berkeley scientists published a study in Current Biology sharing their findings on being able to reconstruct visual signals from the brain. The current process utilizes a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging system to scan and record the subjects brain activity and blood flow through the visual cortex while they watched […]
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