Game Theory, A contest and an Interview
I’ve been thinking about Game Theory a lot recently. Not so much reviewing the math or researching all that deeply, but by cousin shared an article with me about game theory in the hunger games and it gave me another lens to look at the fiction I’m reading through. I then come across a scenario which I think I may actually try and analyze (that’s when I know I’m really interested about a subject).
Say you have 2 chances to enter a contest. One has no strings attached, but the other requires telling others about the contest. That second entry will most likely decrease your chances to win. The calculation becomes quite interesting once you increase the number of prizes and have a sample of entries to review before you make your choice. In the case that inspired this train of thought there are 5 identical prizes and so far there are 40 people entered into the contest. Half of those boosted the signal… I may have overstated my desire to analyze this.
Sorry about burying the lead. No matter how this calculates out I’ll pretty much always come down on the side of boosting the signal. Check out this GREAT interview and enter for a chance to win one of 5 copies of The Year’s Best Horror, Vol 4 edited by Ellen Datlow.
A post on facebook by Ellen Datlow turned me on to the interview/contest and it’s been a while since following a link was so fruitful.
- I was introduced to Erin Underwood, who is by all accounts super interesting.
- I was inspired to write a blog post. (I actually needed this. Thanks!)
- What is it about dark fiction or horror that captures your imagination as a writer or a reader? – I’ve bookmarked this interview so that I can reference these answers in the future. The answers are diverse, but a number of them say quite well what I find I have trouble expressing.
Good stuff.
[…] Game Theory, A contest and an Interview (mentatjack.com) Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. No comments yet… […]