Donald Trump and Game Theory
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/what-game-theory-tells-us-about-donald-trump-20160511
Donald Trump has basically shocked the nation after the results of the election came out. For him, he has been using a strategy that has both benefitted and harmed him throughout the election that has definitely caused some controversy. In this article, it talks about the prisoner’s dilemma, which involves two prisoners who are both offered immunity if they decide to turn the other one in. If one of the prisoners chooses to turn the other in, then they go free and the other person gets five years in jail. If both of them choose to rat each other out, then the sentence moves from five years to fours years but they both become incarcerated.
Similar to this game, there is an online computer program named Tit for Tat. This program had a very simple strategy. When one player snitched, the program would retaliate by telling the other player in the next round, but, if the player kept silent, the program would also stay silent. The program would maximize its cooperation with the nicer players and punish the somewhat “mean” players. Now, how does this fit in with Donald? Trump is known to be extremely nice to those who speak favorably of him. If a reporter praises him, he will happily praise them back. But, if someone speaks poorly of him, he will happily speak badly about them. This works in many ways but could also backfire severely. An important figure could be talking very nicely about Trump but could have alternative motives and could easily undermine Trump when he least expects it. Of course, individuals can recognize his strategy and use it against him whenever they want, which is very bad for him because this is his main strategy.