Strategic Decision Making

A review on Rock, Paper, Scissors by Len Fisher

Note that the book is not about how to win the typical rock, paper, scissors game; as the reader may think from reading its cover. This book covers the other side of game theory, the study of strategic decision making. Game theory has been widely used to explain patterns of behaviors in various sciences and on how we can maximize our gain in situations of conflicts and competitions.

The book has a slow start, beginning with chapters that talk about the Prisonner's dilemma and Nash equilibrium concepts, which would appear to be a logical trap. Nash equilibrium can be created when both parties favours each of their self-interest, leading to many dilemmas and problems in our society. Also, Len Fisher discusses the limitations of game theory: “What’s best for you isn’t always what’s best for everyone else”. A concrete example is when you throw garbage on the street rather than on a trash can. If everyone else would do that, our streets would be full of trash and pollution would be all over.

It’s funny how the game “rock, paper, scissors” is played in every part of the earth. At the same time, it is used in resolving conflicts for the reason that this game has no actual strategies for one side to dominate the other. Hence, scenarios and games which seem to be a dead end can be solved through adding strategies and making them the same situations as rock-paper-scissors.

In spite of competitions, cooperation within people can be achieved to change the game and so we can avoid the traps leading to unwanted outcomes. This was discussed in the succeeding chapters; however the major points were similar to the nature of narratives from the previous ones, with interesting examples from science.

I’d like to think that the most significant part of the book is the “Notes” section, which was saved for last. I had fun reading with the narratives, jokes (though some were corny) and random trivia. Because of this, I therefore consider the book to be worth reading. The author’s style is smooth, a little bit humorous and easy to comprehend. Plus, he writes based on his past experiences which I, as a reader, can totally relate. If you want to learn about game theory quickly and you want it interestingly, this book might be what you’re looking for.