Non-Zero-Sum James – Details, episodes & analysis

From the genetic lottery we're thrown into at birth, to the educational opportunities we navigate, the jobs we compete for, and the relationships we cultivate—every stage in life is marked by wins and losses, strategies and tactics, alliances, and competition. But not all games are zero-sum showdowns. To understand non-zero-sumness it helps to consider "sum" different types of games.

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Learn more at the Game Theory Page (https://nonzerosum.games/gametheory.html)

First episode, a bit about who, why and what. Read more at https://nonzerosum.games |

Links:

Modelling (a very old blog about my very short lived modelling “career”) https://prefrontallobotomy.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-model-you-know-what-i-mean.html

Relative Value (if you just can’t wait for the podcast episode, you can read more here) https://nonzerosum.games/absolutevsrelative.html |

Subscribe here: https://nonzerosum.games/subscribe.html

Inspired by a recent trip to Tanzania, I couldn't help see game theory in action.

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For links and pics: https://nonzerosum.games/chicken.html

Take-it-or-leave-it.

In this game, you are given $10. To keep the money, you have to give a portion of this $10 away to another player. If we take the contained, rational and self-interested assumptions of game theory, the dominant strategy is simple: give the other player as little as possible. The catch is, if the other player rejects your offer, you both get nothing.

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For all the links, pictures and payoff matrices visit: https://nonzerosum.games/ultimatumgame.html

Game theorist Liv Boeree describes herself as pathologically competitive and indeed, her life has been about "winning" in many ways.

Introducing our first Non-Zero Hero, part of a series people out on the front lines preaching the gospel of non-zero-sum games. Liv is responsible for introducing me to Moloch.

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Liv Won The European Poker Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64GWjR4vKGs&t=21s

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Her brutal 'Golden Balls' performance is here: https://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6GhbT-zEfc

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If you're not familiar with The Prisoner's Dilemma check out our post here: https://nonzerosum.games/prisonersdilemma.html

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Visit Liv's charity 'Raising for Effective Giving' here: https://reg-charity.org/

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Check out here 'Win-Win' Podcast here: https://www.winwinpodcast.com/

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For more on Moloch check out our series: https://nonzerosum.games/map-moloch.html

Coordination Problems are situations in Game Theory where coordinated solutions are required to solve complex problems, like those we've explored with Moloch—where we end up complicit in our own downfall. And we'll be exploring this through a story about one of my many childhood mishaps.

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To read the original post visit: https://nonzerosum.games/unlockingsolutions.html

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This episode mentions Humanity's Alignment Problem, which isn't in podcast form yet, but is part of the series over at the blog: The Alignment Problem No One is Talking About: https://nonzerosum.games/alignment1.html

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And here is the link to the Holzer and Neumark research: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.38.3.483

I mentioned in Who is Moloch? that the Canaanites were acting rationally by offering the occasional child for sacrifice, but that's not entirely true. We can actually find an optimal strategy through using some Game Theory!

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To read the whole series visit: https://nonzerosum.games/map-moloch.html

Molochian systems—they're insidious, they're ubiquitous, and they're messing with your life in ways you might not even realise. Today, we're diving into four key examples of these pesky systems that can turn self-interest into a collective nightmare: Listicles, Bargain Hunting, Tax Havens, and Late-Stage Capitalism.

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Yuval Noah Harari on Gossip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-XGwOxtH9E

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Donate to Unicef here: https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-labour

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Join the discussion over on the blog: https://nonzerosum.games/manifestationsofmoloch.html

Moloch is a metaphor describing systems where individual rational decisions lead to collectively bad outcomes. This series explores how Moloch manifests, why it’s so hard to break free, and what strategies might help us escape these traps.

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Links:

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Read the illustrated post here: https://nonzerosum.games/whoismoloch.html

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Liv Boeree's Beauty wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fifVuhgvQQ8

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and The Media Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRz54V7rU4U

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Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl': https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl

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Scott Alexander's 'Meditations on Moloch': https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

Dealing with public goods, free riders and exploitation.

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For links, pics and to join the discussion: https://nonzerosum.games/socialdilemmas.html