Gamechicken
The gamechicken (also referredas playing chicken) is"game"which two "players" each drivevehiclesome sort towards each other, andfirstswerve "loses"is humiliated as"chicken". In practice, this sortgame, if played at all,most likelybe played amongst adolescents or aggressive young men, though itnot at all popular.The phrase gamechicken may also be used asmetaphor forsituation where two parties engage inshowdown wherehave nothinggain,only pride stops them from backing down. Bertrand Russell famously comparedgamechickennuclear brinkmanship.
One ofearliest examples ofgamechickeninfilm Rebel WithoutCause, thoughthat versionplayers drive two cars towardscliff, andfirstjump out is"chicken". The version whereplayers drive towards each othernow regarded asstandard version ofgame.
Chickengame theory
The modern version ofgame may be seriously studiedgame theory. Because"loss"swervingso trivial compared tocrash that occurs if nobody swerves,reasonable strategy would seembeswerve beforecrashlikely. Yet, knowing this, if one believes one's opponentbe reasonable, one may well decide notswerve at all, inbelief that he will be reasonabledecideswerve, leavingother playerwinner.
The payoff matrix looks like this, where "cooperation"swerving"defection"driving straight:
| Cooperate | Defect | |
|---|---|---|
| Cooperate | 0, 0 | -1, +1 |
| Defect | +1, -1 | -20, -20 |
Of course, this model assumes that one chooses one's strategy before playingsticksit - an unrealistic assumption, since ifplayer seesother swerving early, he can drive straight, no matter what his earlier plans.
Anyway, under this model,in contrast toprisoner's dilemma, where one actionalways best,chicken one wantsdooppositewhateverother playerdoing.
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