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Evolution and Game Theory

https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/game-theory-evolutionary-stable-strategies-and-the-25953132/

 

This article studies the relationship between game theory and biological evolution.  It begins with the classic hawk-dove game, in which the dominant strategy is the “hawk” strategy since it results in the best possible outcome for the player regardless of the other player’s choice.  However, the article explains that while evolution is related to the traditional two-player, fixed payoff game theory, there are many other factors that contribute to an animal’s choices, and ultimately how their species will evolve.  For example, the size of the animals has an effect on strategy, as larger animals are more likely to be able to attack small animals with low chance of injury.  Small animals may then become more inclined to flee the area that the large animals occupy, leading to the idea of territoriality within species.  The variability of the environment in which the animals live may also have an effect on their decision-making, as it can effect the costs and benefits of a particular action in a certain geographical location.  The payoffs of certain choices are not always constant in the animal kingdom, leading to unique interactions that drive evolution over thousands of generations.

The study of evolution’s relationship to game theory shows us that game theory may not always be as simple and concrete as it seems.  In the variable environment example, we see that payoffs can be different in different locations and at different times; there may be a dominant strategy in one situation, but in another situation a completely different dominant strategy.  The process of evolution must then be some sort of “average” that reflects all of the dominant strategies for the different situations that members of the same species could live in.  This notion of averages may be able to be applied to other situations where there is no single dominant strategy, such as political campaigns or financial markets.  A strategy that is an average of many potential dominant strategy may end up being more consistently beneficial to a player than any single basic strategy could be.

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