Games
In Game Theory various games are mathematical objects of different character — in rules, relative payoffs, and attendant mathematical behaviours. Each "game" represents different situations — in the kinds of problems that organisms have to deal with, and the possible strategies that they might adopt if they are to successfully survive and reproduce. To achieve a better feel for the challenges of these different situations, evolutionary games are often given rather colourful names and “cover stories” which quite effectively describe the general situation in which the particular game places its players. It all helps develop a feel for the mathematics of the game and the problems the players face.
Some representative games of Evolutionary Game Theory are hawk-dove, war of attrition, stag hunt, producer-scrounger, tragedy of the commons, and prisoner's dilemma. Some of the various strategies that apply in these games are Hawk, Dove, Bourgeois, Prober, Defector, Assessor, and Retaliator. Depending on the particular “Game” the various strategies vie against one another under the particular game rules, and the mathematics of the evolutionary game theory are used to determine the results and behaviours.
Read more about this topic: Evolutionary Game Theory
Famous quotes containing the word games:
“At the age of twelve I was finding the world too small: it appeared to me like a dull, trim back garden, in which only trivial games could be played.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“In 1600 the specialization of games and pastimes did not extend beyond infancy; after the age of three or four it decreased and disappeared. From then on the child played the same games as the adult, either with other children or with adults. . . . Conversely, adults used to play games which today only children play.”
—Philippe Ariés (20th century)