The Small Streams Theory

A.G.
A.G.
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

Small Streams Theory is an abstract formalization of two-person iterated games with imperfect information / information asymmetry. It is a generalization of Prisoner’s Dilemma-type games.

The main idea is that Downstream Players use the Downstream Calculus to exploit Upstream Players. The thing is, the Downstream Calculus only works if the Upstream Player is not aware that he/she is dealing with a Downstream Player using the Downstream Calculus.

In the Small Streams Theory, there are two Positions, A and B, the Upstream Player and the Downstream Player. In reality there can only be two players who are either Upstream or Downstream. This makes three possible arrangements, i.e. Upstream/Upstream, Upstream/Downstream, and Downstream/Downstream.

What we are dealing with are two separate realities, in the Upstream/Downstream configuration, namely that the Upstream Player KNOWS that he/she is Upstream, and the Downstream Player — falling into the second reality, a.k.a. Unreality — thinks that he/she is Upstream.

Downstream Strategy / Calculus. A.G. © 2018. All Right Reserved.

The idea of the Downstream Calculus is pretty simple. Player B is a Downstream Player, he/she is downstream in the Small Stream Game and uses a Downstream Calculus strategy to exploit or extort the Upstream Player.

We speak at times in terms of “appropriation”, where the Downstream Player is the “appropriator” (somewhat backwards compared to real common-pool resource problems involving actual streams of water).

Upstream Strategy / Anticalculus. A.G. © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

The Upstream Position is always dominant. But it can be exploited if it is not careful. That is why conscious Upstreamers use the Anticalculus to basically neutralize the Downstream Calculus of the Downstreamers.

Two Upstream Players Cooperate. A.G. © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

It’s always possible to have two Upstreamers, in which case there is always cooperation.

Two Downstream Players Compete. A.G. © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

It’s also possible to have two Downstreamers, who will naturally compete in their strategies of Downstream Calculus. The whole point of the Downstreamer strategy is to exploit the “source” (“resource”) at the top of the mountain. The Upstreamer controls the source/resource. The Downstreamer can “monitor” the Upstreamer’s activities by looking at the quality of the stream. But the Downstreamer really has no real power to change anything other than using the Downstream Calculus to profit from the work of the Upstreamer. This is really a game of intangible cultural heritage, it is a civilizational game: The Game of Small Streams.

(More to come… this is only a first draft)

A.G. © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Design Science

Code, Culture, Communication

A.G.

Written by

A.G.

Field artist. @antisignal

Design Science

Code, Culture, Communication

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