Optimization sometimes leads to not-so-optimal results, ironically.
Example 1: A politician is playing the political game optimally. But, if the public also believes that he is merely maximizing his political benefits, they won’t vote for him.
Example 2: A person playing the dating game to maximize his/her utility probably won’t get the best results, if the person he/she is dating realizes he/she is playing games.
So I guess the trick is how to optimize without letting people know you are optimizing. Suppose people are smart and they know it when you are playing games. Does it mean you should forget about optimization and simply be yourself all the time? Will this lead a better outcome? Which strategy is riskier? I would say, being oneself is a high-risk, high-return strategy, while playing games (making calculated decisions based on the reactions of others) is safer but probably won’t yield the best outcome.
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I agree. One converges to his/her real being overtime. And I assume the world around you are all smart people, so being the real you is the optimal stationary strategy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! That concludes it well.
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