How Game Theorists saved Human Race in Cold War
http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/did-game-theory-save-mankind/
In history classes, we all have heard of the word, “cold war”, and learned about the intense situation between United States and Soviet Union once experienced with the threat of nuclear weapons. Both of the countries were fully equipped with the technology to launch a nuclear war, with the power that could nearly wipe out human existence on earth.
Rationally speaking, once country A first fired the nuclear missiles, and destroyed the land of country B, Country B is more likely to lose the war and less likely to fire its nuclear missiles as firing the nuclear weapons after its country has already been devastated does not help to rebuild its destructed lands, therefore if one country launches missiles, while the other does not, the one that launches will ultimately win victory, destructing its opponent country with little damages done to itself. Now applying Game Theory techniques we learned from class, we can easily draw the following diagram:
| US\USSR | Launch | Not Launch |
| Launch | (destruction, destruction) | (0, destruction) |
| Not Launch | (destruction, 0) | (0,0) |
The diagram leads to a conclusion that whichever country fires the missile first, will win the war. Understanding these principles, game theory experts who are hired to study the situation during cold war, to save the world, and to prevent the great destruction nuclear war can bring to its country, decided that the best solution would be characterizing their leaders as irrational beings, who would seek revenge and launch missiles after their country is destructed. This further lead to the establishment of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) which states that once either opponent starts the war, both countries will be greatly damaged. This act ultimately refrained leaders from both countries to launch nuclear weapons and furthermore saved millions of human lives.