Game Theory in Plant Extractivism
https://doi.org/10.1186%2F1746-4269-11-6
Lately, game theory has gained traction in the field of evolutionary biology, and this paper is one example of how it can be used. While it’s true that game theory can intuitively be applied to concepts like “survival of the fittest,” which holds true for plants, this paper takes another concept into account, one that is just as important, if not more, in the field of evolutionary biology and ethnobiology. The authors want to model evolutionary theory not just in the typical, biological context (which would only focus on the exchanges between the plants themselves). Social rules, beliefs, lifestyles, codes of conduct, and many other human cultural traits also deeply influence the process of evolution. With this in mind, it becomes clear that an important factor in these studies should be “the investigation of competition or cooperation existence, both in resource collection and marketing used by human populations.” In other words, this paper is a case study that accounts for how humans’ extractivism of two Brazilian plants can be modeled with game theory.
The conclusion reached by this study is that this “game of extractivism” (in which our two plants are extracted and used by humans) operates in a similar manner to the “tragedy of the commons” (TOTC). The TOTC occurs when individuals act independently (in their own self-interest) and in opposition to the common good of the community due to open and unhampered access to a shared resource. Within this game, the non-cooperative (individual players) solution is converted to the Nash equilibrium. From this study, the authors helped identify strategies as well as solutions to the issues that arise from these plants’ extraction in the Brazilian community.
In class, we have learned that game theory is a framework which allows for the study/modeling of agent behavior in cases of mutual interdependence based off decision-making, strategy, and possible outcomes. Agents want to act in a way to maximize their gains and minimize losses. Using different modeling techniques, one can determine the conditions necessary for producing certain results, and this process emphasizes the use of “economic rationality.” All of these concepts are analyzed within this paper, and in addition to creating a game theory model, the researchers use this model to strategize solutions for any negative outcomes. This is a perfect application of game theory, as its concepts are used to better society.