Playing with a madman (Baltag at LGS7)

Like all theories, game theory has its own simplifying assumptions. One of these is the rationality of players, that is: a player, like a true homo oeconomicus will maximise its payoff. As a result the outcome of a noncooperative game will be a Nash equilibrium since it consists of best responses to other players' strategies. But then how should we play the game when the opponent is not rational, especially if she has already made irrational choices?

Cooperation to save species

In a recent paper Frank and Sarkar apply game theory to enhance conservation efforts. Their examples include the wild dogs in South Africa, red grouse and raptors in Britain and the conservation of coral reefs near the Philippenes. I find the application thrilling, though the game theory is not completely correct.