The Link Between Social Conflicts and Game Theory
Although game theory is a concept that has been in discussion for decades, the ability to integrate game theory into modern-day technology, such as algorithms, games, and applications is one that is significant. By being integrated into big data, game theory mathematics is able to solve issues between people and their environments by serving as a framework to work through conflicts.
One project, in particular, is called Odycceus, which centers around analyzing data on how social media is able to indicate social conflicts that may arise in the near future. Due to the issue of political polarization, this project focuses on gaining more insights into the patterns that correlate with political polarization and gaining a better understanding of various worldviews. Eckehard Olbrich, who is the coordinator of the Odycceus project, explains how elements of game theory heavily influenced the formation and development of this project. By examining the incentives of the players and their actions that would ultimately maximize their expected utility, predictions are able to be made concerning how people change their behaviors depending on the regulation of social media. This project highlights how models of opinion formation and game-theoretic notions of equilibrium are able to create analytical conclusions concerning social behavior.
By such modelings, game theory is able to delve deeper into the better alternatives to deal with conflicts. However, Bunnefeld also brings up the issue within game theory that it looks for solutions for issues. With Bunnefeld’s expertise in this field of work, it’s evident that conflicts cannot be solved, but they can be managed. Complexities in issues regarding their cultural contexts become barriers when it comes to addressing the solutions to these issues. But game theory, nonetheless, shows itself to be useful in creating a framework of approaching various issues and examining the ways that people think.
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-game-theory-mathematics-human-conflicts.html