What game theory teaches us about war | Simon Sinek - nzwargamer.net

What game theory teaches us about war | Simon Sinek

TED Archive
Views: 3327644
Like: 74648
What would happen if ‘win’ and ‘lose’ are no longer the only options when fighting a war? What if a third, more abstract ideal becomes the goal? And — what if not all the players are aware of the new rules? Simon Sinek uses game theory to explain some of the strategies and outcomes behind past and present wars.

TEDArchive presents previously unpublished talks from TED conferences.
Enjoy this unedited talk by Simon Sinek.
Filmed at TEDTalksLive in 2015

520 Comments

  1. When you consider others as enemies, eventually they will consider you as an enemy too.

  2. SO was the religious element of wars , after all religion especially Christianity is responsible for most of the wars in European African continent.
    You level Vatican island to 30 meters below sea level and that will be a start.
    game theory is not only as good as the information put in it.

  3. This guy is kinda stupid. “They didnt lose they just gave up and ran out of resources” well no shit buddy i wonder how that happened 🤦🏻

  4. Best anti lefty talk I have ever seen. Take a look at what has happened in the last four years.

  5. It is in the interests of an army to treat the enemy well when captured – including medical treatment. This becomes known and the enemy is much more likely to surrender. Sinek gets this point wrong. Ultimately he also showed how it's in your long term interests to operate with a system of values rather than to pay attention to short-term interests. He is arguing for enlightened long-termism. I agree with him.

  6. The world will have peace if the elites are Hung by theyre necks! At least for a couple of years 😔

  7. I disagree that nursing an enemy soldier back to health was not in our interest. The reason we did it was because there was an international understanding that the enemy would do the same to our own soldiers. When we face an enemy that doesn't do that in return, we get to claim moral superiority over them which boosts support among the international community, who mostly play by the same rules as us, and at home while reducing the moral standing of the enemy in those same communities' eyes.

  8. you nailed pretty much last 30 years after communist regime fall and it soo dam right. and btw if you politician refuse to fix that you are probably gonna lose in more than 1 aspect of this

  9. Simon Sinek is not in the military. He's not a military historian. And he has never seen war.

    He's not even a game theorist.

  10. Funnily enough, it sounds like the solution he's proposing is to emphasize the importance of the American values which determine whether we have the will to play the infinite game: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  11. DayZ impressed me with what it reveals about human behavior

  12. I’m sorry but I don’t believe the Cold War ever ended. It simply changed modes. Russia, the driving force behind the USSR, has never ceased to attack the USA in one way or another. But I take his point about other adversaries joining the war.

  13. Zero credibility and all bad ideas, yet he's all over the internet.

  14. I disagree with his last point, always acting based on your values also makes you predictable if your enemy knows your values
    Comeon now..

  15. This man predicted the failure of the Trump administration before trump was even president

  16. One person is trying to achieve a clear objective… The other one is too, but their real motivation is the love for the game… so they keep going even if no goal is ever reached… They end up doing well in the long run just because of the amount of time and energy they've put into it. While the other person gave up years ago.

  17. Confusing a/the government acting in the interest of a corporation with the values of its people is the real issue being raised here.
    Support (public) for the game is being couched with lies and obfuscation.

  18. There was one player on the Soviet side that didn't stop playing "the game" after the "end" of the Cold War… Vladimir Putin.

  19. This is why religion so important, cause you have a standard set of values that do not change. Without religion, your values can change at the blink of an eye, cause you are the one in control of the values; not saying that someone without religion can't have values, but they don't have anything preventing them from changing their values to their own whims.

  20. The concept of infinite war and persuing interest without values became the reality again in afghanistan this year…..

  21. Winning without a single fight is the epitome of war. Today’s glory is tomorrow’s past. One more ally is one less enemy. Let’s put down selfish interests and live together in harmony.

  22. Afghanistan – same damn thing happened to us. Except it took 20 years

  23. I always thinking about this don't the name
    thanks to the algorithm

  24. I thought our thing was Guantanamo. We didn't do it here to skirt our laws, not our values. A country/empire has interests, not values.

  25. Er, acting predictable doesn't let your enemies to predict your moves? Won't they try to exploit your humanity, generosity, good will?

  26. Reminds me of what the Islamic prophet taught the companions in war values to a certain extent.

    Precisely what he said, we look at the USA of what it stand with/for Israel occupation of Palestine.

  27. The reason behind our confusing and ineffective and unpredictable decision making?

    The collapse of the mono culture, thanks to the internet, and our leaders constantly trying to appeal to continually changing interests amongst a constantly divided (starkly so) public.

    Democracy and self interest need to be aligned in execution. The interests of the leaders must be those of the people.

    While they are at odds there will be no democracy.

    Democracy is consensus.

  28. The modern crisis is a moral one…. This is the root of loneliness & agresivity…because when you are lonely you don't owe anything to anybody then society disintegrates….like a lego kicked by a spoiled unhinged child

  29. Mat pat teaches us so much about war, I never noticed

  30. I think just like once great power Britain detoriated and are now just a country, america will also head there. World order will once again change.

  31. I first heard Sinek with his Start With Why stuff, and back then it was kinda fun, if a bit obvious. But ever since then, the Emperor has increasingly seemed to be starkers.

    And this – this is Just Nonsense.

    For a start, it's not remotely Game Theory, if what is meant by that is what is always meant: the branch of mathematics that studies a particular kind of rational interaction. Prisoner's Dilemma; John Nash; A Beautiful Mind; and all that jazz. Within Game Theory, games can be classified according to various schemes, but infinite/finite is more of a mere modifier of other much more interesting and useful classifications. And as for infinite and finite players? What the heck are those? But perhaps Sinek is drawing (very) loosely from the completely unrelated work of James Carse. But if he is, he seems to be wandering, without a map, very far from where Carse goes. And he shouldn't be alluding to GT at all!

    Overall, consider this? Hundreds or thousands of people — smart, educated, expert people, as well as lesser beings and idiots; and honorable, well-intentioned, noble people, as well as rascals and miscreants — have focused their minds and energy on the problems Sinek mentions. And they've done it for decades and more, from numerous social, political, geographical, and historical viewpoints. And they have actually tested their ideas, to varying degrees of failure or success, in the real world, with all its nuance, and complexity, and moral ambiguity. But from what Sinek is saying, it would seem that those efforts, broad, wide, and deep though they were, all missed, and continue to miss, the point, while he alone figured it out. And he pulled off this miracle of analysis and insight armed with what? Some undergraduate level studies in law and in cultural anthropology, and a little bit of advertising experience. And now he presents it to the world — at a f*cking TED talk? 🤯 😱

    The combined brains of many of the planet's best thinkers over a century or more, or a wee man with a flip chart, and a cheeky grin?

    Seriously?

  32. surely there is no such thing as infinite player in the real world

  33. Run all your decisions through your values. Yes agree

  34. Some of the recent wars the US has been in have served neither its values nor interests! Nicely summarized comparison of finite and infinite games.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.