Total Diplomacy

Selfish Gene

Ehsan Honary — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:34:00 GMT

Richard Dawkins, (1976) Selfish Gene

This is a must read. It is one of those books to take to the proverbial island. In Selfish Gene, you will learn how evolution can explain so much about the world. You will see how simple interactions between entities can lead to incredible rise of complexity. His talk on Evolutionary Stable Strategy and Game Theory is directly related to issues seen in any competitive system, including Risk. He manages to elegantly show us that a great deal of our actions can be predictable due to the basic nature of the system we interact with.

If you want to know why someone was nice to you in Risk even though he could stab you in the back by breaking a deal, then read this book!

Evolution and the Theory of Games

Ehsan Honary — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:25:00 GMT

John Maynard Smith, (1982). Evolution and the theory of games. Cambridge University Press.

The concept of evolutionary stable strategy was first introduced by Professor John Maynard Smith which was then largely adapted in ethology and biology about the evolution of behaviour. This books address the whole theory and explores the genetic systems, game theory and animal behaviour.

The evolution of behaviour discussed in this book is directly applicable to Risk. A player who plays repeatedly is subject to an evolutionary game play by his opponents. The dynamics behind this are quite fascinating. Knowing the mathematics behind the complexity may actually help to improve your Risk game. Instead of focusing on winning the current game, you can start to focus on winning all games. Your moves will be different if you want to win over and over again than if you just wanted to win the next game.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Ehsan Honary — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:14:00 GMT

Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, (2005) Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, William Morrow.

This book explores economics in a different way. Levitt argues that if you keep asking the right questions, you will find interesting answers. He attempts to show us that economic principles can be used to explain many concepts deemed to be mysterious. He shows that underground criminals run theirs activities like a corporation. Or that teachers are just as likely to cheat as their pupils. In a different story he shows how cheaters can be analysed based on an amusing study over the number of bagels consumed per day. His analysis of baby naming patterns are also quite interesting.

Economics deal greatly with patterns. Hence, economics is applicable to many systems, not least playing Risk. Introducing new rules or principle creates incentives for competitors in an environment. If these incentives are not thought out properly, their introduction may backfire. Any action has reactions, and those reactions have even more reactions. This book explores a number of these concepts and illustrates them with easily understandable real-world stories.

On War

Ehsan Honary — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:13:00 GMT

Carl von Clausewitz (2007) On War, Oxford University Press.

Clausewitz was a Prussian General who was interested to analyse military campaigns and attempt to answer difficult questions. On War is one of the most important works written on strategy. The most important concepts discussed in this book are perhaps the following:

War must never be seen as a purpose to itself, but as a means of physically forcing one's will on an opponent. War is the continuation of politics through other means.

The military objectives in war that support one's political objectives fall into two broad types:
- War to achieve limited aims
- War to disarm the enemy and to render him politically helpless or militarily impotent

The course of war will tend to favour the party devoting more resolve and resources. He then goes on to introduce the concept of Total War: the pursuit of complete military victory regardless of the political consequences.

Some also criticize his work and suggest that his concept of Total War was behind the huge devastation caused as a result of the two World Wars in the twentieth century. Either way, the work attempts to show why war takes place and how it is used as a tool to accommodate the needs of politicians and leaders.

The concepts are directly applicable to playing Risk.