Ask Lewis: Are There Many Categories of Games in Game Theory?

How to make sense in a chaotic world

In my mind, life is a game to be won. Others can also win, but creating this result requires skill and intention.

Game theory is the study of rational and logical models of strategic and tactical interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in:

• economics,
• logic,
• systems science
• computer science
• …and in daily life.

In the early days of its development, game theory addressed two-person win-lose (zero-sum games). Here, a participant’s gains or losses are exactly balanced by the losses and gains of the other participant.

By the 1950s, game theory was extended to the study of win-win (non-zero-sum games). Today, my work in Harrison’s Applied Game Theory is applied to a wide range of behavioral relations, especially in the ordinary aspects of daily life. Today, applied game theory is an umbrella term for the science of rational decision making in AI, computers, humans, and animals.

People often think of Game Theory as a scenario with someone has to win and someone has to lose. This however is not always the case…