PLAYING WITH REALITY

An intriguing book that shows how games are much more than just diverting fun.

Clancy is a neuroscientist and physicist whose research focuses on the mechanics of human intelligence, and she has worked with the AI lab DeepMind. Consequently, she brings an interesting perspective to this study on games, game theory, and the meaning of games. People have played games for millennia (“Games are older than written language. Games like Go, chess, backgammon, and mancala are living artifacts”), but Clancy is most interested in games designed to simulate reality, even if in symbolic form. Chess was the classic example, used to teach and refine war strategy. The idea of simulations evolved toward attempts to forecast battle outcomes, using scale models of actual terrain and opposing teams of officers. Sometimes, this was spectacularly successful, but on other occasions, it failed due to unpredictable events. In any case, the idea of using games to simulate reality and predict outcomes became embedded in the culture, and the subsequent development of game theory gave it the patina of scientific certainty. It spread into virtually every aspect of modern life, including economics and politics. However, Clancy notes that these systems are bound by the creators’ rules, which assume rational self-interest from the players. The key issue is that human decision-making is not often rational, although it might be better to say that it entails a higher level of rationality than a game can incorporate. “Game theory is not a very good model of people,” writes Clancy, “but it’s good enough to be trouble.” While this is absorbing material, the nature of the subject means that parts of the book require close attention. For diligent readers, it’s well worth the effort.

A revealing look at the hidden role that games have played in human development for centuries.