Parenting Tips From Game Theory

We all send signals to other people to present ourselves in certain ways -- the clothes we wear, the drinks we order, the concert seats we book (in pre-COVID times). Animals do it too. Learn how game theory can help us understand how humans and animals communicate in this episode, the first of a two-part series about evolutionary game theory.

-----
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Liz: Okay, ready?

Both: Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Liz: Aww, scissors cuts paper.

Ben: Okay, okay, so you're up. I'm Ben Klemens.

Liz: I'm Liz Landau,

Ben: and this is Pod, Paper, Scissors.

[theme music]

Ben: Okay, go ahead Liz.

Liz: You know, when when I moved to DC, I noticed the drinks are pretty expensive here. Like you can pay $15 for a cocktail at a really nice place, even at the top of the W Hotel where they make those cool, custom presidential drinks. Like they can be $22.

Ben: Yeah, and you know, that the top of the W Hotel it's a really nice view. But yeah, you know, even at the speakeasy type places, those are black boxes, those are rooms with no view at all, and you're still paying $15 for a cocktail. And I think it might partly be, you know, that it's like, it's all hidden. And you have to know to go to yelp.com and type in "speakeasy" into the search bar in order to find it.

Liz: Oh, I thought they were just keeping me out.

Ben: Awww

Liz: And now I'll never even now because of COVID.

Ben: Yeah, so I mean, I've been to one or two, I've had a $15 cocktail or two. And, you know—

Liz: Well, did you think that they were actually better than that $5 gin and tonic you can get at happy hour at a dive bar.

Ben: Yeah, you know, I would say that they certainly put a little more effort into it. Maybe a lot more effort. But, you know, there'll be a couple of ingredients. They'll put the little like, the little like spiral of lime on top. Yeah, yeah, there's definitely more to it than, you know, at the bar where they just kind of like take that that spritzer thing. I don't know what's called because I've never worked in a bar.

[2:00]

Liz: Oh, like that hose?

Ben: Yeah, that thing and pouring some gin, you know, from the rail? Yeah, it's a bit of a—it's definitely something of a step up. But you know, in my opinion, I think it's mostly...game theory.

Liz: You know, speaking of cocktails, I was thinking about peacocks. Peacocks are these delightful birds with huge feathers for tails, especially in the males, they have these blue and green very decorative plumage, and there's no real practical purpose for it. It's really a matter of sexual selection. Have you heard of sexual selection, Ben?

Ben: [singing-ish] Oh, and when I got that feeling, I want sexual selectio—no, no, go ahead.

Liz: Yeah. So people are probably familiar with natural selection, this idea that certain traits evolve, because they're advantageous to a species. Well, there are certain traits, they're actually not advantageous in any practical way, but are advantageous to signal to the opposite sex that you are healthy and reproductively fit. That you are going to, if you're a male, give some quality semen.

Ben: Oh, so you mean, a signaling mechanism for the purpose of generating a separating equilibrium? The problem is that there's cheap talk, everybody can say that they're, you know, they have high reproductive potential. Everyone can say that they're, you know, wealthy, or smart or anything. But the question is, how do you trust somebody who makes that claim? You need some means by which they can signal that you know, that they have, you know, for the peacocks that they have this high reproductive potential?

[4:00]

Liz: Yeah, so male peacocks have this beautiful plumage to signal to females that they are healthy, and they are going to provide quality semen.

Ben: Oh, okay. So you mean it's a signal for the purpose of generating a separating equilibrium. I get your now.

Liz: But yeah, in the animal kingdom, we see lots of examples of really interesting decorative traits, ornamentation, if you will, that really serves no practical purpose for an animal, but it does attract mates. A famous example in the marine world is the fiddler crab. Actually, there are dozens of examples of fiddler crabs, but generally fiddler crabs are most famous for having a giant claw, just one claw that's basically bigger than the rest of their body. It's just this giant appendage that they wave for the mating season to attract females. And then the fiddler crab ladies see the giant claw, and they're like, "Oh, yeah, that's my sugar crabby daddy."

Ben: Oh, that's it. That's so sweet. That's lovely. And making that claw that, you know, in terms of calories in terms of, I don't know, however we measure the effort that a crab exerts. They're expensive, right? So if you're not an especially successful crab, you're not, you're just...