(Fathom-BICOM) Prof. Yisrael Aumann interviewed by Calev Ben-Dor - Study the world champions of peace, the Swiss, who have been at peace for close to 450 years. The Swiss have peace because they are strong. The runners-up are the Romans, who had a Pax Romana which lasted for about 230 years and who had a maxim: "If you want peace, prepare for war." If a country constantly sends doves into the air and says how tired it is of war, and how deeply it seeks peace, the other side picks up on it. Imagine that two people are given $10,000 to divide between them, but only if they both agree. The first person - the "rational" one - says, "let's divide it equally," while the other demands $9,000 or threatens to walk out (and they'll both receive zero). The first will most likely knuckle under, as he'd rather have $1,000 than nothing. So it turns out the seeming "irrational" one comes out on top. The response of the first one should be, "I want $5,000 or I'm walking out. Now you decide." Game theory understands this as a battle of wills, and it is essential that each player convince the other that he is serious, that he's willing to walk out unless his demands are met. Hebrew University Prof. Yisrael Aumann received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis.
2018-03-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive