Nalebuff Experiment
In 2006, ABC's Primetime set up a show revolving around game theory. Six pairs of strangers started out at different spots all over New York City, with the common goal of finding each other. This seemingly impossible task was accomplished by all of these players. There were no hints or help from any of ABC's crew members; the only thing they had was $100 to spend in any way. Barry Nalebuff, the conductor of this experiment, thinks that the key to this experiment would be, "Can I think about what you are thinking that I'll do? Can I put myself in your shoes as you are trying to put yourself in my shoes?" On their journey to find each other, they realized that the best thing to do would be to try to figure out popular areas in NYC. In the beginning, they brainstormed with their partners about where a good meeting place would be. The most common and popular, they believed, were Penn Station, Grand Central, Empire State Building, and Times Square. In the end, 3 groups met up in Times Square and 3 met up in the Empire State Building.
This application of game theory to real life had a successful outcome and proves that life is a game, whether we know it or not. Somehow all the players met up in two locations within a couple hours of beginning the game. Barry Nalebuff explains this phenomenon. Logically, the "players" of this game thought the best time to meet someone would be at noon. Noon is a central focal point of the day that is common to most people. It is not a random time like 10:27, 2:14, or 9:58 would be. Numbers have a significance in our lives, and we like numbers that are definite. This is the reason most people, when trying to cut back on a addictive habit, like smoking, try to go cold turkey first. As an addict it would be difficult to tell yourself to go from a pack of cigarettes a day to 6 cigarettes a day. Six is a random number; it doesn't seem to have a meaning. Why not pick 5 or 7 cigarettes a day? Zero is a definite value; there is a meaning to it. Three groups met up in the Empire State Building, and the other three met in Times Square. Another thing that was common between the groups was that they were unsure of how to get the others attention. Most groups made signs, one group thought of getting noise makers to attract attention, and the other groups just looked for people that would "look like they were looking for us".
The players of this huge and difficult game had to figure out what the other players were thinking. They were all strangers, so there was no knowledge of the others' preference of areas in the city. They thought about the situation logically and considered the most popular and significant time and place. This helped them accomplish their difficult task that seemed like it would be hard to overcome. By trying to figure out what the other players were doing and putting themselves in the others' shoes, they applied game theory to their life and accomplished their task much quicker than they had expected.
Check out the videos below to see the actual experiment! It's a little long, but really interesting.
This application of game theory to real life had a successful outcome and proves that life is a game, whether we know it or not. Somehow all the players met up in two locations within a couple hours of beginning the game. Barry Nalebuff explains this phenomenon. Logically, the "players" of this game thought the best time to meet someone would be at noon. Noon is a central focal point of the day that is common to most people. It is not a random time like 10:27, 2:14, or 9:58 would be. Numbers have a significance in our lives, and we like numbers that are definite. This is the reason most people, when trying to cut back on a addictive habit, like smoking, try to go cold turkey first. As an addict it would be difficult to tell yourself to go from a pack of cigarettes a day to 6 cigarettes a day. Six is a random number; it doesn't seem to have a meaning. Why not pick 5 or 7 cigarettes a day? Zero is a definite value; there is a meaning to it. Three groups met up in the Empire State Building, and the other three met in Times Square. Another thing that was common between the groups was that they were unsure of how to get the others attention. Most groups made signs, one group thought of getting noise makers to attract attention, and the other groups just looked for people that would "look like they were looking for us".
The players of this huge and difficult game had to figure out what the other players were thinking. They were all strangers, so there was no knowledge of the others' preference of areas in the city. They thought about the situation logically and considered the most popular and significant time and place. This helped them accomplish their difficult task that seemed like it would be hard to overcome. By trying to figure out what the other players were doing and putting themselves in the others' shoes, they applied game theory to their life and accomplished their task much quicker than they had expected.
Check out the videos below to see the actual experiment! It's a little long, but really interesting.
