The Structural Balance in International Relationships
Less than a month ago, Canada decided to sever friendly ties with Iran and to force the Iranian diplomats in Canada to leave the country. While the decision may have seemed a bit sudden, it was actually the result of months of simmering of changes in international relation. To understand Canada’s decision, we need to look into Canada’s relationship with Israel. Ever since the Zionist […]
Traffic Congestion in New York City
New York City, “The City that Never Sleeps,” is a grid of busy, intersecting streets. Whether walking, driving, or biking, people almost always encounter a significant amount of traffic in New York City. It takes people much more time to go only 10 blocks (approximately one mile) in this city than it would on any […]
New Dimension to Game Theory: Relationship between Generosity and Time
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-generous-or-selfish-20120920,0,4468031.story The lead author David Rand, using a modified “public goods game,” has offered a new dimension to the traditional game theory experiments that we are all familiar with, whether that is the “prisoner’s dilemma” or the “dictator’s game.” That new dimension is time. In the study, the results highlight that the people who were forced […]
Detroit Mayor’s Prisoner Dilemma – Why in reality people choose not to confess
In class we have discussed the classic Game Theory Problem – The Prisoner’s Dilemma. We also analyzed why in a lot of cases the dominant strategy (the strategy a player will use no matter which strategy the opposing player plays) is to confess. In today’s blog, however, I will discuss why in reality, in some […]
The Game Theory of Politics
This article describes the idea of game theory in political elections. Though the examples given in this article are old, they are still relevant to current elections. With time running out and Election Day getting closer and closer, campaigners are often faced with difficult decisions. They often face the choice of what states to visit […]
Pakistan reopens NATO supply routes to Afghanistan
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/world/asia/us-pakistan-border-routes/index.html?iref=allsearch During the summer of 2011, the United States and Pakistan reached an agreement to reopen a NATO supply route to Afghanistan that has been closed since November 2010. Pakistan closed the routes in late 2010 after an incident at a supply checkpoint left 24 Pakistan soldiers dead, which it blames the United States for. […]
Syria: Does game theory tell us everything?
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/09/syria-weapons/ The ongoing civil war in Syria pits two very different forces against one another. On higher ground, there are Assad‘s forces. I say higher ground because their weaponry is more advanced (cluster and thermobaric bombs), their soldiers are better trained, and their supply lines are much more robust. On the obviously lower ground, there […]
Using networks to predict who gets the flu
An interesting concept in networks is the Friendship Paradox, which states in simple words that your friends have more friends than you do. This can be seen from a simple representation of a small group within a social network like Facebook. Let us consider five friends, A, B, C, D and E such that a […]
Are YOU the next YouTube Celebrity?
YouTube, which started as a simple video sharing website, has become one of the major sources of entertainment for people all around the world today. There are over 4 billion views on the website each day. Videos are constantly becoming viral, and ordinary people are transforming into celebrities overnight. With the huge networks of videos […]
The Game Theory behind a Six Overtime Thriller
This past weekend Cornell’s Sprint football team opened there season with a win, in a game that would turn out to be one for the ages. After waiting through a ninety minute lightning delay the Big Red found themselves in a dog fight with the Quakers of UPenn. As the clock wound down marking the […]
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