in a beautiful mind, there's a famous bar scene where john nash supposedly gets a breakthrough idea. if every guy goes after the blonde, they'll all get in each other's way. but if they pursue her friends instead, they might all have a better chance of leaving with someone.
it's a memorable introduction to strategic thinking, but the scene is hollywood, not history. game theory existed long before nash. his major contribution was the nash equilibrium: a way of understanding situations where no player can improve their outcome by changing strategy alone, assuming everyone else sticks to theirs.
what does game theory mean to you?
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