Customer Reviews

Prisoner's Dilemma

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The enjoyment, or perhaps the utility you'll find with this book, will be directly related to how much you know about Game Theory prior to this read. This book spends, as much time on history and biography as it does on what Game Theory is about, so this work would seem to be most appropriate to those who are new to the material. I had only basic understanding of Game Theory from other books I had read, within which this field of study was mentioned, so for me the book was very worthwhile. The historical and biographic aspects of the book were not new, so there were of less interest to me.

Math need not be a passion for this book to be understood and enjoyed. The various games that are explained and, "played", for the reader actually utilize little in the way of math. Game Theory in practice is about the number of participants, the choices they have, how the games should rationally be played, and how there are played when people replace theory. The results of these games are applicable to daily life, whether it explains how a network will decide the placement of their commercials, why a person will stand in a line of unknown length, or pay more than the true value of an item (like a dollar bill). Peoples behavior often crosses from the irrational to the absurd, and many of these games will point out courses of action almost all readers will have taken at one time or another, when the rational decision was the opposite of what they chose to do.

The book is also a good primer for further reading on Bertrand Russell, John Nash the subject of the movie, "A Beautiful Mind", and John von Neumann, who many considered the most brilliant man alive during his career, and many other great scientists of the 20th Century. There is also review of the development of both the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and the very surprising groups of people that either supported their development and use, and those that were diametrically opposed. There is also some discussion on how Game Theory was and is used to make decisions on a global scale, and also where Game Theory falls short of some of its initial promise.

You will most likely enjoy following "The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Stag Hunt, The Dollar Auction, and So Long Sucker", the last of which often was alleged to have spouses leave the scene of the game is separate cabs. Any one who is inquisitive will enjoy the book, and may be motivated to pursue a variety of its topics further.

William Poundstone is in his element when he's writing about stuff like this. If you've read his _Labyrinths of Reason_ or _The Recursive Universe_, you already know he's a terrific expositor of the logical and mathematical brain-benders that have driven both mathematics and philosophy for the past century or so. Well, this book really gives him a chance to shine.

You see, it's one big story that consists of several sub-stories. In part it's a biography (intellectual and otherwise) of John von Neumann, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century. It's also a popular exposition of game theory and some of the decision-theoretic puzzles that arise in it (most obviously the one of the book's title). And it's _also_ a history of the Cold War, at least on its strategic side.

You pretty much have to be William Poundstone to weave all this together into a coherent and readable narrative. Fortunately, William Poundstone _is_ William Poundstone, and he pulls it off with panache.

There's something here for everybody. My favorite parts are the chapters on the various game-theoretic dilemmas (including a _very_ nice exposition of Robert Axelrod's _The Evolution of Cooperation_ that correctly captures what Axelrod did and did not show in his famous computer tournaments). But the biography of von Neumann is fascinating too; great mathematicians tend to be odd and interesting characters, and von Neumann was one of the greatest. And all the Cold War-era history is riveting in its own right, even apart from its relationship to von Neumann (who may have been at least one of the real-life models for Dr. Strangelove).

Poundstone is a fine writer with a real gift for this sort of thing. If even one of the strands in this tale sounds engaging to you, you can rest assured that Poundstone will manage to keep you engaged in the other two as well.

Look for his other books too. I especially recommend _Labyrinths of Reason_.

The subtitle of this book is more informative than the title. The prisoner's dilemma itself is a central point, but this book is more about "John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb." In a sense, William Poundstone takes the prisoner's dilemma as a reference point, and looks at its history. As he does so, he provides a brief biography of John von Neumann, discusses the development of game theory by von Neumann, its further development by the other members at the RAND Corporation, and game theory's relevance to the nuclear bomb and the cold war.

As fascinating as all this was (and he tells the story well), I was most interested in the final third of the book which discusses games other than the prisoner's dilemma: chicken, the volunteer's dilemma, deadlock, stag hunt, the largest-number game, and especially the dollar auction. The games are described not just in terms of numerical payouts, but in situations that can be imagined in real life. And Poundstone also mentions game theory in relation to evolution, and tit for tat strategies in iterated prisoner's dilemmas.

This is a book for the general reader. You need not be a mathematician to understand the contents. Indeed, it is a pretty simple book, and you will only learn basic aspects of game theory if you haven't encountered it before. What you can expect is a story about von Neumann and the cold war and the interesting paradoxes that such situations create.

I think Poundstone accomplishes his task of introducing the life and times of John von Neumann, as well as game theory and Cold War strategy (and follies associated with it). Game theory in its original von Neumann/Morgenstern formulation is dauntingly unapproachable. For the layman, Poundstone cuts to the essential meat of the matter. I found the chapters on various game formulations and introductory analysis to be enlightening, as Poundstone does not try to force everything into a game theory solution like many economic texts do- he recognizes and explains the limitations and shortcomings that game theory researchers have discovered over the years. A good read, whether you're a hawk or a dove on arms control issues.

I liked Poundstone's Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge much more than this book. I don't think Poundstone really knows how to write history or biography. He tends to pile up quotations (too often from popular newspaper and magazine articles) rather than offer any deeper sense of Von Neumann and his time. I was not entirely pleased with his presentation of game theory - it would have been much clearer had he made use of the notion of a "dominant" strategy. Some of his explanations are confusing. People interested in getting a quick understanding of what game theory is about might be better served by chapter six of Martin Hollis's The Philosophy of Social Science: An Introduction (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy).

Although I enjoyed the book it was, I'm afraid, not much of a primer on game theory. The background and biographical information on Von Neumann was well told but lacked adequate information on his involvement politically. This book is more of a introduction to the IDEA of game theory and falls short of explaining the reality of game theory. Not informative enough, but still entertaining.

In my opinion, the Cold War was the most interesting era of all history. This book gives a real sense the the precariousness of the world situation of the time. The fact that liberals like Bertrand Russell advocated going to war with the USSR in the late 40's to prevent them from building a nuclear arsenal shows how fearful people were in the early Cold War. The world may have been saved by Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), the idea that if both sides have the ability to eliminate the other, neither will act. MAD is a game theoretical concept, and game theory was dirctly resonsible for the ABM treaty. Poundstone does a very good job of explaining game theory, using several examples ranging from prisoners trying to reduce their sentence, to high schoolers trying to get their friends to shave their heads. Von Neumann, inventor of game theory, comes across as one of the geniuses of the 20th century, but not as someone you would want for a boss. Poundstone's story of Von Neumann's life and explainations of game theory are very entertaining, and his profound observations of the Cold War are something that I wish more people were familar with.

Granted the subject matter is absolutely fascinating, 5 stars out of 5. Having said that, the subject deserves a much better treatment. This book was poorly organized and felt rushed. Yes, it was readable. But it felt like Poundstone just jammed together the results of his research rather than using his research to flesh out a coherent structure.

The purported central point of the book was the influence of game theory on cold war strategy. Yet this theme was not well developed or documented. The book was part (weak) bio of von neuman, part (weak) introduction to game theory, and part(weak) history of the cold war. The parts just did not fit together smoothly.

Prisoner's Dilemma addresses two major areas: an overview of the concepts of game theory and a biography of John von Neumann. Neither are convered in extreme detail, but that isn't bad. In fact, it makes this book an enjoyable casual read.

The game theory pieces are presented at a very approachable level of detail. No rigorous math, just well written descriptions of the basic concepts.

The first part of the book covers the development of game theory and provides good "character development" of von Neumann. It them moves away from von Neumann and into the politics of the time (which are exceptionally interesting, especially if you didn't live through them).

Overall I found the book very interesting. It manages to balance several topics without wandering and going into excessive detail.

I ordered this book from a book club because of my interest in finding out how von Neumann contributed to the making of the first atomic bomb. I had no idea at the time what a Prisoner's Dilemma was nor what Game Theory was about. Nevertheless this was a great book to read and a good introduction to Game Theory for me that has sparked an interest in learning more about the subject. Like is shown in the title I consider the book about half about von Neumann's life and half about Game Theory which is a great balance - ie. not too technical to read.