Reddit reviews Prisoner's Dilemma: John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb
We found 10 Reddit comments about Prisoner's Dilemma: John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
ScienceBiographyWilliam PoundstonePrisoner's Dilemma
You have to take it in the context that at that time there was no other books that explored that topic to that degree. Today its assumptions are a bit dated and are divorced from its historical context. Personally, I would say it was influential by the nature of it being the only book available.
I would suggest reading “Prisoner's Dilemma: John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb”
https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Dilemma-Neumann-Theory-Puzzle/dp/038541580X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540053354&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=prisoners+dilemma+william+poundstone&dpPl=1&dpID=51JDofUSNLL&ref=plSrch
Why not read a book on all of them?
Anything by Simon Singh is worth reading. In addition to what others have recommended, these books are good:
[The man who loved only numbers](http://www.amazon.com/MAN-WHO-LOVED-ONLY-NUMBERS/dp/0786884061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254333710&sr=8-1
)
Flatland
Prisoner's Dilemma
A mathematician reads the newspaper
A mathematician plays the stock market
Innumeracy: mathematical illiteracy and its consequences
Also, while not exactly about Maths:
Surely you are joking, Mr Feynman
What do you care what other people think?
The Art of Computer Programming
Someone emailed me yesterday and asked a similar question. I responded with this reading list:
These aren't novels, of course. All of it is non-fiction. But I think that is what you meant. And they aren't textbooks either. I'm also guessing you were looking more for applications than pure theory.
A couple of books that focus maybe a little more on the people that developed game theory than the theory itself, but I'll throw them out there anyway:
Prisoners Dilemma? though it seems more of a biography than a text book
Google for game theory and Cold War or read: https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Dilemma-Neumann-Theory-Puzzle/dp/038541580X/ref=nodl_
Is it this one? I can't find one called just Game Theory
Prisoner's Dilemma: John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb https://www.amazon.com/dp/038541580X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qB2EzbYH25WTR
For an introduction to game theory you might try reading The Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone. It's very digestible (if a bit verbose) and a good introduction to the concept of you like story telling. This is no a technical book at all and misses out on a lot of meat of the idea.
For a free and more direct inrroduction to game theory you can go to the website ncase.me/trust. Of course there is also Wikipedia.
As for evolutionarily stable reproductive strategies, I sent know if inner singular source. I watch an inordinate amount of nature documentaries. Wikipedia has a good article on evolutionary game theory. I think watching a lot of nature documentaries is helpful because animals obviously don't care about human morality, but sometimes demonstrate behaviors that could be said to align with our moral systems due to evolutionary pressures. Most animals aren't monogamous, but in species that are there are clear environmental pressures that encourage monogamy. Emperor penguins are monogamous, not because it is most, but because they nest far from their food source during the harsh winter. Without a parent to keep the egg warm, the chick would definitely die, but while holding the egg that parent is unable hunt. A single parent could not raise a chick, it takes 2. The parents then trade off watching the chick and eating. For other animals, raising young isn't such a huge investment. See turtles will burn their eggs and then just crawl off the beach to never see ether again, because they are going for quantity over wishlist. Skink mothers sometimes eat their own eggs if too many predators around, because it's better those nutrients go back to them than to a predator.
As for modifying human behavior, lookup skinner boxes and operant conditioning. It simply demonstrates that animals (including humans) will do more of the things you reward them for and less of the things you punish then for. We don't punish thieves because they deserve it, we punish thieves because it prevents thievery.
You mentioned game theory but not exactly at what level he would want to read (textbook level, popsci level) etc. If you want a good textbook level (that is also readable), I would go with
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Theory-Analysis-Roger-Myerson/dp/0674341163/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1324407308&sr=8-5
If you wanted more of a popsci book, I would take a look at
http://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Dilemma-William-Poundstone/dp/038541580X/ref=pd_sim_b_7
I haven't actually read this one (I flipped through it a while ago) but I like Poundstone's writing style. It might frustrate you if you actually know some game theory.
In my opinion (as someone who is getting a phd in game theory), game theory really sounds a lot cooler and more profound than it really is. I don't think it really has the same type of allure once you peel away the fact that it has an awesome title.
My actual recommendation for this area would be
http://www.amazon.com/Networks-Crowds-Markets-Reasoning-Connected/dp/0521195330/ref=pd_sim_b_8
which is not strictly game theory but a really awesome way to view the world. I am biased since this book is a great primer for my research area but I think this might be interesting and a much better compromise between popsci and textbook.