Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Me on Amazing Stories: A Coordination Game in "The Isolinguals"

I'm back at my monthly exposition of modern themes in classic science fiction. Check out this month's entry on Lyon Sprague De Camp's 1937 classic "The Isolinguals", discussing applications of the story to (more) modern game theory.

A Coordination Game in "The Isolinguals"

People have become stricken with a sudden affliction that makes them speak dead languages and recall memories of people who could be their ancestors. Terrified by (then) modern New York City, they see no choice but to group among their linguistic lines. Their behaviour resembles a coordination game in which multiple players have to align their actions in order to find each other. That bolded link up there tells you how.

As an added bonus, unlike May's entry, this one doesn't contain spoilers.

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