This reading was my first exposure to game theory and the two the caught my eye the most were The Free Rider and The Stag Hunt. I was most interested in The Free Rider because I always see discussion about them (and have, personally, been recited the classic counterargument), but never ways to solve the dilemma. I agree with their proposal for a solution…”make it progressively more risky, or more costly, for each additional free rider to enjoy the benefits of their ride”, BUT I wish there were more examples of this in action! Not because this dilemma is more important than the others, but it is the most common one I have trouble counteracting. As for The Stag Hunt, I had never heard the dilemma outlined in this way but it makes logical sense. I am fascinated by people’s motivation to make this trade-off of freedoms- beyond the motivation of a bigger payout. There has to be more factors than the traditional “bigger reward = better = hunt stag”, especially since this option holds greater risk compared to hunting the hare.

Of the final two chapters, I greatly enjoyed the reference to Swiss-style chess tournaments. In my family, we have a tradition of learning chess as soon as possible (in my case, I was 4 years-old). I competed in tournaments growing up and have seen many tournament styles. The Swiss format is my favorite and it surprised me when I read this, because I had never considered the impact of throwing the first match! Granted, it is something my grandfather would never forgive and something I would never want to do. However, these readings are making me analyze all board games I play through a new lens.