Game Theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics, but strangely, discussions about it came during our literature lesson, and sparked off an animated debate.


It all began when one of our Prelim-exam articles, Kaff's short story "Survivor", grabbed our attention by its unique ending.

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A man and his sleigh dog were marooned on an iceland near the South Pole. Their fates were sealed if there was no plane to save them within one week. The man's survival prospects were bleak in the face of the harsh weather and the menace from the only living thing beside him--the dog.


For fear that his dog, a huge one, would overpower him and eat him up to avoid its impending starvation, he chose to act first. He began to hone a knife. The dog gazed at him curiously and the man believed that he saw fear crossing its face, but he went on his mission--facing the threat of death, no one could be altruistic.


He ordered the dog to come to him, and lifted the shiny knife.


The dog obeyed, albeit it flinched at first.


He was overcome by his conscience and threw the knife away the moment his dog approached him, and cried in the snow.


That was when the dog knew.


It circled around the man, hollering and bawling menacingly with its last strength. The man continued to whimper.


The dog stopped to lick his face with its warm, wet tongue, and the man who had been thrilled to bits, went up to hug the dog, tightly.


Two days later, an aeroplane circling around the area observed a shiny spot in the whiteness of the snow and spiraled down.


It was the knife.


So they were both saved, the man and the dog.
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The discussion was: if you were the man, would you kill the dog?


Some answers came within seconds:


"I won't. I don't eat raw meat. It was disgusting."


"No. Of course. I can't bear the thought of killing anything."


"Maybe...No, should not be...If it dare come near me I would kill it for sure."


"Yeah, I will hone a knife...but it depends whether I kill the thing..."


My answer:"No. Of course. My strength enough to kill a dog? Joking! I can't make it die even if I kill it, so why bother?"


The essence of the discussion, however, was not what we have discussed above. So our devastated teacher(after hearing our answers, especially the "no-disgusting-raw-meat" answer), envisioned a new situation.
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If all of you are arrested by a terrorist who divide you into two groups in different buildings and he gives each group a control pad that controls the bombs of the other group's building. If you denotate the others' building, you will be released alive. However, if the other group acts first and decides to bomb your building, you will die. Each group has three minutes to decide which action to take...

Will you press the "red button" of your controller?

We were literally divided into two groups in my class that were supposed to be put in the two buildings, and the three-minute discussion started. Within three minutes, we were supposed to message our teacher our mutual decision whether to "bomb" or not.

At the end of the three minutes, neither side pressed the "red button", so we both survived.
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In reality?

With people you do not know in the other building?

Both groups will bomb the other side, but the group I was in pressed the button first so the other group died.

With your family members in the other building?

Neither pressed the button.

With possible criminals?

For sure we both "bombed" the other side, but again there was the "time issue". Our group sent the message faster so the other side was blasted into oblivion.
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Mr. Cai(our literature teacher) came into a conclusion based on our reactions: if there are people we know, we won't bomb the building, but if they are strangers, off they die.

So he made the situation more complicated.

Inside the other building: 1 family member, 19 possible criminals. Bomb?

"Hmm...then..."

Inside the other building: 20 family members / friends or 20 possible criminals. Bomb?

"Uh-huh...well..."

Inside the other building: you don't know who they are, and how many of them. Bomb?

"Gosh! I quit!"
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"Wait, who are in MY building with me," I asked Mr. Cai.

"Your friends and family members."

"Then I will bomb them."

"What if you are with people you do not know?"

"Then... I won't press the button, and persuade people in my side not to. But if they do insist, I have nothing against it, either. The decision is beyond me, now."
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"So it depends on your 'fate'~" (everything seems to be about fate and luck...don't say it about exam:)
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We roared...Mr. Cai is a hardcore fatalist, so whenever we come to this topic, we feel like treading on landmines. Here he came...

It is actually a model of "game theory", in fact a situation of Nash Equilibrium (Note: John. Jr.Nash was the Nobel laureate for Economics due to his contribution to 'equilibrium concepts', and I have read a biography about him).

Nash Equilibrium:
If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing his or her strategy while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium model.

Upon searching more into the topic, I made an appalling dscovery that Game Theory is also applied in the study of biology, in a concept called "biological altruism".

Biological Altruism:
A situation in which an organism appears to act in a way that benefits other organisms but is detrimental to itself. This is distinct from traditional notions of altruism because such actions are not conscious, but appear to be evolutionary adaptations to increase overall fitness of the species.

Examples:
Vampire bats, who regurgitate blood they have obtained from a night's hunting and give it to group members who have failed to feed.

Worker bees, who care for the queen bee for their entire lives and never mate,

Vervet monkeys, who warn group members of a predator's approach, even when it endangers that individual's chance of survival.

All of these actions increase the overall fitness of a group, but occur at a cost to the individual.
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Then I realise. "Game theory" is much more complicated in real-life application and many factors around you, coupled with your own choice and decision, will decide your fate.

Then it dawned me on the Cuban Missile Crisis:

What if either John.F. Kennedy or Khrushchev chose to press the "hot button" during the Cold War? A nuclear war?

Thank goodness they steered away from it...

Maybe they both knew well about the "game theory". Who knows? But thank goodness if they knew.

Because you Loved me

For all those times you stood by me

For all the truth that you made me see

For all the joy you brought to my life

For all the wrong that you made right

For every dream you made come true

For all the love I found in you

Ill be forever thankful baby

Youre the one who held me up

Never let me fall

Youre the one who saw me through through it all


You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldnt speak

You were my eyes when I couldnt see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldnt reach

You gave me faith coz you believed

Im everything I am

Because you loved me


You gave me wings and made me fly

You touched my hand I could touch the sky

I lost my faith, you gave it back to me

You said no star was out of reach

You stood by me and I stood tall

I had your love I had it all

Im grateful for each day you gave me

Maybe I dont know that much

But I know this much is true

I was blessed because I was loved by you


You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldnt speak

You were my eyes when I couldnt see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldnt reach

You gave me faith coz you believed

Im everything I am

Because you loved me


You were always there for me

The tender wind that carried me

A light in the dark shining your love into my life

Youve been my inspiration

Through the lies you were the truth

My world is a better place because of you

About Past

About Past...

Past is a myth, a sweet myth. It is a great feeling that sometimes this myth can unfold right in front of you, to remind you that part of your life is still retrenched in your heart, forever and always.

I believe there is nothing in the world more fabulous than being missed, being waited, and being marked as "special". I am fortunate to find such a friend.

Not "find". I know my friend has always been there for me--we've known each other for eleven years. (Good age, we're about to be adults) Sharing some anecdotes after five years may be the most heartwarming way of remembering our past, making it alive, and reliving it again. We all need the time and the mood to reminisce. It is therapeutic.

About memories...

I have half a piece. You have half a piece. Together we make it a whole.

Maybe I remember more about you, because I do not need to sift through my mind to think of details about you. They are lying peacefully in my memory. But I wish you remember more. You indeed.

It is lucky to have a friend sharing your past, and cherishing that shared part. People can be put into different worlds as time passes by, but that mutual memory links the world, so my "world" is not so different from your "world", and their "world".

About weather...

Believe that we are "special" enough to MAKE the day for others. I MAKE rain, and I MAKE sunshine (today's sunshine:)

Believe that we can always find reasons to be happy in any conditions we live in----just small things can bring out sunshine.

Believe that we have the "cheek" to let the cloud be blown away.

About time...

Keep counting, because we are all growing.

At different sections we meet different people, and we show them our different "selves" (since they are different). Never be scared by the time. It indeed gives you a crust like that on the refrigereated cake, but time is a beautiful thing if you just "tickle" it and it "giggles" for you.

Things cannot be reversed, so always be contented that they happened as they did, and be sorry if you have any inclination to condemn your past.

And get nervous~especially when time rewinds and we see people in our past----VERY past. It is the most beautiful evidence that we still care about them, a lot.

To end...

What a great past I have!

When I was still the tiny girl in the denim trousers, helpless and fluttered I believe, and the game "three-letter-word" was going on and I was "rescued" by my good friend.

When I was still the naive girl I was trapped in the riddle----"can neither go up nor down". Isn't it "卡"?

When the SARS broke out, I was on a mission with others to make collages and encourage the public to combat the disease by giving out leaflets on the streets. I went through that special training saying "保镖" ten times on end (try it! you'll get your tongue twisted!) And I was one of the consultants; my good friend was the other:)

When my first graduation drew near, ways began to separate, once and for ever. We were never on the same track again, but we have since then been making changes, big ones and small ones, to our lives.

When after five years, we talk about our past again. It sounds sentimental, but we are all "maturally sentimental", so it sounds fine.

About future...

We will be adults, soon. I expect it as much as my friend does.

We will still be in two worlds, but we are going to enjoy a higher degree of freedom that age grants us.

We will become lifelong pals:)

And hopefully we will attend each other's weddings:)

So there is a lot to be looked forward to.

Let's get nervous soon;P

To Lv

You sound tired. Life must be tough for you. Indeed, we at the ease here can only feel a fraction of the stress that you are dealing with, the grappling with your future directions, and all the unknowns(x, y, z.etc).

I can envision your conditions now. Can you believe it? I paid a visit to your school two years ago. Yeah, the new building in the suburb. You mentioned Tao Yuanming's poem about the country life. I can relate to that. It must feel like being part of a great mission for you, tending to your own life, fighting for your future, and having your own way that looks both promising and uncertain. All out of your own, away from the shelter of your parents.

I understand your stress, and feel heartened that you get along with it.

You mentioned "loneliness", and to "love your loneliness". Great thinking! What I feel now is a bit ashamed that I am too used to the ease and comfort here and the surety of my future that I almost forget about all the hardship that I should and could have faced. Comfort has softened me up, I think. Even when you talk about the chilly drizzle there I could shudder involuntarily...Here I am too used to the sunshine. Sunshine does a lot of good to the skin but it weakens my endurance to harshness, which I think you can deal with it now much better than me.

Indeed. That is how lives are different for us. I remember last time you asked me to write informally. I did try but here comes your serious letter. It really rings a bell in me about what you are going through. Suffice to say that as long as you feel happy about your life, I am greatly relieved:)

Now maybe some really light anecdotes can lighten you up, and it would be great if I could unburden you. You know, I still keep that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" you gave me on Primary 6 sports meeting on my bookshelf. And once you drew a distorted scorpion and used a "flies pat" to crush it. You always wrote "nasty" things on my wish cards, and even the parting message...You copied mine word for word...

And I didn't blame you for all that, and I will never. You must be growing up really fast...(haha)I just hope I can grow just as fast. Being abroad for the first year was a terrible bittersweet experience, but for the second year, I am getting the hang of it, and I feel at ease. Maybe adaptation itself is another form of maturity? I hope so.

I 'll contact you when I return. Now it's time to say "regards". Zhengzhou is chilly now, right? So take good care of your skin. Wash your face with algae salt (if possible) and I hope no more pimples on your face?:D

Friend from Afar

L.Z.

"The Rose"

Some say love
It is a river
that drowns the tender reed

Some say love
It is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love
It is a hunger
an endless aching need

I say love
it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart
afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance

It's the dream
afraid of waking
that never takes the chance

It's the one
who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give

and the soul
afraid of dying
that never learns to live

And the night
has been too lonely
and the road has been too long.

And you think
that love is only
for the lucky and the strong.

Just remember
in the winter
far beneath the bitter snow

Lies the seed
that with the sun's love,
in the spring, becomes "The Rose"

-----------Westlife

MIssing yOu~

My childhood playmates,

I am missing you~

Very Much Indeed~

How Fishy? (by Jasper Fforde)

(Something happened before, leading to this conversation between two SpecOp Officers)

"What do you think?"

"Fishy," said Bowden. "Very fishy. How could something like Cardenio (note: a long-lost manuscript by Shakespeare) turn up out of the blue?"

"How fishy on the fishiness scale?" I asked him. "Ten is a stickleback and one is a whale shark."

"A whale isn't a fish, Thursday (note: the female Officer's first name)."

"A whale shark is--sort of."

"All right, it's as fishy as a crayfish."

"A crayfish isn't a fish," I told him.

"A starfish, then."

"Still not a fish."

"A silverfish?"

"Try again."

"This is a very odd conversation, Thursday."

"I'm pulling your leg, Bowden."

---------From "Lost in a Good Book" by Jasper Fforde