5 - On the rhetoric of game theory

Summary

Introduction

This chapter contains some comments on the language used by game theorists. As such, it is quite different from the rest of the book. Why am I interested in the study of the rhetoric of Game Theory? Admittedly, “I am not thrilled” with the fact that Game Theory is viewed by many as “useful” in the sense of providing a guide for behavior in strategic situations. This view is reinforced by the language we game theorists use.

Consider, for example, John McMillan's Games, Strategies and Managers (1992). On the cover of the paperback edition is a quote from Fortune praising the book as “the most user friendly guide for business people,” and Akira Omori of Arthur Andersen Co. is quoted as saying that “[the book] will be helpful both for beginning managers and for advanced strategic planners. In fact, I would recommend that anyone engaged in the US–Japan negotiations read the book.”

Or consider Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff's bestseller, Thinking Strategically. The Financial Times (December 7, 1991) says of the book: “Thinking Strategically … offers essential training in making choices and weighing possibilities not only in business but in daily life.” Schlomo Maital says in a review of the book published in Across the Board (June 1991): “Ever since 1926, when John von Neumann, a brilliant Hungarian mathematician and physicist, published his path-breaking paper on Game Theory, it has been known that analytical models of games could be built.