A game theorists guide to success in business and in life
"It is only okay to speak the truth when it doesn't matter."
From an ethical view, game theory raises concerns. Game theory presumes people don't do things because they are right. They do things because it's in their selfish best interest. All relationships are transactional.
In practice this is true. We don't like to admit this. Perhaps it's better to say that your service will suffer if your interactions with someone are not in their best interest
The book covers many cases… Games, Auctions, Voting, Transactions, when does a system support honesty? Deception?
It helped put a nice bow on the whole Bush/Gore/Nader discussion. Recall, Nader cost Gore the election since he directed votes away from Gore. Three (or more) way elections are always a challenge since they have many corner cases that allow for strategic voting and not honest voting. So, if you had to choose between Nader and Gore, should be vote honestly, or strategically? This leads to the above quote "It's only okay to speak the truth when it doesn't matter." You must accept the fact that when being completely open and honest, you may hurt some of your desires. You may hurt those who need your help elsewhere. Is that being dishonest or manipulated? Or is that accepting the fact that life forces hard choices. We don't get everything we want.
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