This week, my essay in The Girl Who Was On Fire: Movie Edition (called “Hunger Game Theory”) is the focus of a read along at the Hunger Games fansite, Down with the Capital. There is a discussion going on about the essay and the topics it raises in the novels and in other books, films, and TV shows.I’ll be dropping by throughout the week to participate in the conversation.
A few of the questions being asked:
1. Can you think of any other examples of how dominant strategy is exercised in the Hunger Games Trilogy? What about game theory in general?
2. Peterfreund discusses the Nash Equilibrium and how it relates to game theory in this essay. She summarizes: “Nash equilibrium occurs when there is no value to changing your strategy when you know the strategy of the other player. It’s an “equilibrium” because there is no benefit to change.” What examples of this do you see played out the in the Hunger Games?
3. The Hunger Games and Ender’s Game are two books where the characters use the ideas of game theory to govern their actions. Can you think of any other books where game theory comes into play?