Nash Equilibrium in Competitive Path Planning
http://rpg.ifi.uzh.ch/docs/RSS18_Spica.pdf Beyond its use in analysis of social networks, game theory has a number of applications. One such application is described in the paper above where the concept of Nash Equilibrium has been used for solving path planning in 2-player drone racing. The paper lays out some definitions for the specific problem. These include […]
a deeper discussion of the strength of weak ties
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/smarter-living/why-you-need-a-network-of-low-stakes-casual-friendships.html This article explains in detail what strength weak ties have. The article argues that weak ties can not only offer people job opportunities, but also give people the feeling of connection, and people will more likely to be empathetic if they have weak ties. In the later part of the article, the author, […]
Things to Know about Google’s Implementation of the First-price Ad Auctions
Last week, we’ve mentioned the Auction Theory during lectures and when people normally use it. When sellers are not certain with the true prices the buyers willing to pay for an item, they usually choose to have an ascending auction. The buyers would give out their prices during the auction and whoever has the highest […]
Extra Credit Experiment and Prisoner’s Dilemna
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/professor-tests-prisoners-dilemma-on-his-students-2015-7 In the article linked above, a professor at the University of Maryland ran an experiment on his students. He told them to select if they wanted 2 extra credit points or 6 extra credit points on their final exam. However, the catch was that if more than 10% of the class selected that […]
Braess’ Paradox in Soccer
https://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2014/06/24/the-braess-paradox-in-soccer-how-a-team-can-be-better-without-its-best-scorer/ In lecture recently, we learned about Braess’ Paradox. The paradox states that for a network of roads where travel time along roads varies by the number of people driving on it, adding new roads can actually lead to slower travel times. This is applicable in other networks, including a soccer team. Soccer can […]
Network Traffic with Self-Driving Cars
Source: https://www.here.com/sites/g/files/odxslz166/files/2018-12/HERE_How_autonomous_vehicles_could_relieve_or_worsen_traffic_congestion_white_paper.pdf Self-driving cars are the hot new trend, with Google and Uber leading the wave. This new and experimental form of transportation is coming at a critical time for road systems everywhere. The number of cars on roads globally is set to increases to 2 billion in the next 15 years. As more cars […]
Game Theory and the Prisoner’s Dilemma – Brexit
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-30/theresa-may-s-brexit-gambit-is-a-loser-says-game-theory This article talks about how game theory and the prisoner’s dilemma relate to the issue of Brexit. The article makes the point that the UK and its parliament are trying to play a game of prisoner’s dilemma with the European Union, but the EU is also playing a game of prisoner’s dilemma. In […]
Networks in MMORPG: The Corrupted Blood Incident
Networks in MMORPG: The Corrupted Blood Incident https://allthatsinteresting.com/corrupted-blood We learned in class that the concept of network theory widely applies to a variety of relationships in social structures. One huge implication of network theory is analyzing the progress of contagious diseases. Contagious diseases typically flow through direct interaction (edges) between two humans (nodes), and this […]
Why You Can’t Always Win Rock Paper Scissors
https://www.wired.com/story/why-winning-in-rock-paper-scissors-isnt-everything/ My friend and I can never decide where to eat, because we’re incredibly indecisive, so we decided to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who has to pick where to eat. Silly, I know, but there’s a twist: the loser has to pick which dining hall we go to, and a player has to […]
Game Theory Behind Gas Station Clustering
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2012/05/21/why-gas stations-are-so-close-to-each-other/#11befed05827 In the above article, “Why Gas Stations Are So Close To Each Other”, Jonathan Becher uses game theory to explain the reasoning behind why gas stations are usually found relatively close to one another (a common, but often overlooked occurrence), and why this placement is actually the most socially optimal option. Becher cites […]
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