Game theory research reveals fragility of common resources
http://phys.org/news/2016-09-game-theory-reveals-fragility-common.html
This article discusses new research in game theory which suggests that people are naturally predisposed to using “typical resources” often, such as transportation systems and fisheries, even if overusage of them is harmful to society. This research considers Nash Equilibrium, used to explain how people make decisions under uncertainty and risk. The findings can be applicable to both engineered systems and natural systems. In these instances, game theory plays a role when people weigh their potential benefits with what others choose to do. The amount of benefits that one receives when choosing a certain option is influenced by decisions that others choose to make. At Nash Equilibrium, it is typical for people to chose the option that benefits them the most, disregarding what effect it may have on others or on society. For example, you may decide to use a certain amount of a resource, and you know that if someone else also uses a certain amount of that resource too, you will get some return. With this risk however, the resource will fail if the total usage between you and the others using it exceeds the threshold. The next step for the researchers is to determine the failure probability, which is the fragility of a resource, as a function of user risk preference. Understanding how people perceive risk is key, because this can shed light on the extent to which one may see it as a threat and whether or not it is worth taking a risk to receive a possible benefit. The researchers are also planning to use this approach towards cybersecurity, since understanding cybersecurity risk perception can help develop more secure systems.
The article is relevant to this course because it is on the topic of Game Theory, which we have learned in class. Nash Equilibrium in Game Theory is also discussed. In class, we learned how to find Nash Equilibrium, which would reveal what the best strategy would be for two people to take that would yield the equilibrium (meaning that no player can benefit by changing strategies while the opponent keeps their strategy unchanged). In this article, this concept is applied to real life situations and systems, while discussing how people consider the benefits they may receive when risk is present.