Are You Chicken? An Example of Game Theory

Note: This post is a brief overview and personal take on the first few chapters of Hidden Games: The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behaviour by Erez Yoeli and Moshe Hoffman. If you want a deeper dive, I recommend reading this!

I love the intersection of mathematics/computer science and human behavior/psychology. I find it to be a real chicken vs egg dilemma. So much of human behavior can be explained in mathematics and in turn we make mathematical models based on human behavior! In computer science, the intersection between nature and machinery is closer to a completely overlapping circle than not. Our neural networks are based on neural pathways in our brains, genetic algorithms based on how genetic information is passed from parent to children through generations, swarm algorithms that capture the behavior of swarms of birds, the list goes on and on. It’s fascinating how we attempt to capture the mysterious of nature in technology in a similar, less aesthetic way as say a painter

The intersection between behavior and mathematics is utilized extensively in game theory. Game theory is a big branch of applied mathematics that studies how players will act in a given situation, or game. Scientists have found that points in a game serve as motivation for players to act a certain way. This theoretical framework was applied to human behavior, where “games” were situations in real life and “points” were consequences of the “players” actions. In doing this, we find that maybe people don’t act out as randomly as one might think at first glance. That’s right, scientists break down why you didn’t ask for a new latte when the barista made it incorrectly with a bunch of numbers. For fun…

Speaking of chickens, let’s play the game chicken! The premise is simple. In this game two players race toward each other head on. There are four possible outcomes to this game:

1) Neither player swerves out of the way and they crash (possibly causing a concussion)

Points: (-1,-1)

2) Player 1 swerves out of the way, becoming the chicken, and player 2 wins

Points: (0,1)

3) Player 2 served out of the way, becoming the chicken, and player 1 wins

Points: (1,0)

4) Both players swerve out of the way

Points: (0,0)

Simple concept right? Maybe it’s a game you played in the front lawn of your friend’s house as your other friends cheered you on. This game is also called the Hawk-Dove game because it has a basis in nature. When scouring for resources, two hawks were observed fighting for food. Doves on the other hand, would not typically engage in a fight, and would let the hawk take the food. This is a learned behavior because on a rare instance where a dove did engage a hawk, it would typically be extremely or fatally injured, even if the dove managed to obtain the resource.

Although us humans like to think we’re incredibly intelligent beings, far beyond the influences of nature, we fall back onto our nature more often than not. Perhaps two countries are about to engage in war, but one side surrenders. They decide that surrendering will still cost lives and territory, but cost less lives than if they engaged in war. They decided to play dove.

I become frustrated with myself often when I fawn as a response to panic. “Why,” I shout at my brain, “do we smile and nod at people that make us feel unsafe.” I find it easier to be kind when I realize my brain is doing what it was programmed over millions of years to do: keep me safe. Over the years of my life I’ve been playing Hawk-Dove and never realized it.

Most of our existence as humans has just been surviving. In the 10,000 or so years of human history, only a few hundred have not been pure survival. And evolution is so, so slow. So as much as we like to think we’re rational, technologically advanced creatures, our brains are still playing survival games. And for that I am grateful it’s kept my lineage alive long enough so that I mostly worry my squishy brain tissue over coming off well-meaning in a work email. I find it fascinating that in exploring these theories, perhaps we gain more insight into how and why our brains operate the way they do. We are one of the few creatures (that we know of) with self awareness, so I love that we find creative ways to explore inward.