SCIT1003        INTRODUCTORY GAME THEORY FOR SUCCESSES IN BUSINESS 

AND LIFE

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Prof. Ken Tsang

Room E409-R9

Email:kentsang[at]uic.edu.hk

Instructor information

TA information

Mr Han Fu Room E409  Tel: 3620630hanfu@uic.edu.hk

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Web-link for this classWeb-link for this classhttp://www.uic.edu.hk/~kentsang/gt2014/gt2014.htm

also linked through iSpace

As an official communication channel to all students - Download lectures, or reading materials- Announcement of assignment, quiz, mid-term test- Posting solutions to assignment, quiz, mid-term

test- …

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TutorialsTutorials

One hour each weekTime & place to be announced later (we need

your input)

More explanationsMore examplesMore exercises

SCIT1003        SCIT1003        INTRODUCTORY GAME THEORY …INTRODUCTORY GAME THEORY …

Is part of Mathematical Literacy in a modern World.

• This course stresses the prevalence, relevance, and practicality of GAME THEORY GAME THEORY in modern society.

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What is mathematics?What is mathematics?

 “Mathematics sets the standard of objective truth for all intellectual endeavors, science and technology bear witness to its practical usefulness. Besides language and music, it is one of the primary manifestations of the free creative power of the human mind, and it is the universal organ for world-understanding through theoretical construction. Mathematics must therefore remain an essential element of the knowledge and abilities which we have to teach, of the culture we have to transmit, to the next generation.” 

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--Hermann Weyl

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“The great book of nature can be read only by those who know the language in which it is written, and this language is mathematics”

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In Galileo’s time “The great book of Nature” he referred to was just the physical world.

Today, the human society is also regarded as part of the Nature and can be studied by mathematics.

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1994 John Harsanyi John Nash Reinhard Selten

2005 Robert Aumann Thomas Schelling

1972 Kenneth Arrow

1997 Robert C. MertonMyron Scholes

2003 Robert F. Engle

2012 Lloyd Shapley

Nobel Prize laureates in Economics

"for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis."

"for their pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games."

contributions to social choice theory, notably "Arrow's impossibility theorem"

"for a new method to determine the value of derivatives."

"for methods of analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility”"for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.“

What will you learn in this class?What will you learn in this class?

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How to solve daily problems using Game Theory in steps:

1. Identify if the problem is solvable by Game Theory

2. Simplify the problem by abstraction3. Analyze it with logic4. Determine if there is any solution

Our emphasis Our emphasis 

• Training in Logical reasoning• NOT tedious computation

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Some tips to maximize your chances for Some tips to maximize your chances for success in this class?success in this class?  

Work hard, more importantly, work smart:

1. Understand, don't memorize.

2. Ask why, not how.

3. See every problem as a challenge.

4. Learn techniques, not results.

5. Make sure you understand each topic before going on to the next.

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How is your final grade determined?

Some flexibility to determine your “Continuous Assessment”

40%

30%

10%

10%

10%

Oral and Group Presentation (1)

• Choose your teammates

• 4-5 members in one team

• Submit your group form (names & proposed topic) in October

• Study rubric for oral presentation (1)

Choose a topic for your team

Prepare your PPT

Oral presentation will be given (roughly) on the 8th week (Nov 2014)

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Text book-- The Art of Strategy:

A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life

by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (January 4, 2010)

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TIME TABLE of PROF. TSANG -2014Fall-