Istanbul hosts ‘a beautiful mind’ in game theory meet

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Prominent mathematician Nash attended the Fourth Game Theory Congress along with other famous Nobel Economy laureates Maskin, Selten and Myerson. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Famous American mathematician John Nash attended the Fourth Game Theory Congress that started in Istanbul yesterday, along with other famous Nobel Economy laureates Eric Maskin, Reinhard Selten and Roger Myerson.

In his speech, Myerson extended his thanks to Nash and Selten for their roles in the evolution of game theory. “Nash and Stelten changed scientists’ lives after their works on game theory became visible in all social sciences,” he said.

The four scientists had a debate on behavioral economics and argued how behavior might have effects on the economy in the opening day’s panel of the four-day congress, which is being hosted by Istanbul’s Bilgi University, in coordination with the Game Theory Society.

“Behavioral economy game theory should be open to being more experimental,” said Nash, who gave a brief speech at the panel. The other Nobel Laureates agreed that game theory was a powerful tool in determining behavioral economy, although they expressed their own opinions on its optimization.

‘Nash equilibrium’
John Nash, 84, who has been suffering from schizophrenia for much of his life, drew great interest from academics, students and the press during the panel. However, he did not answer questions from those attending.

John Nash’s life story inspired the Hollywood hit “A Beautiful Mind,” in which his character was played by Russell Crowe.

Nash is one of the forefathers of modern game theory and developed the concept of the “Nash equilibrium.” This was based on “non-zero-sum games,” which are based on the idea of win-win for all participants in a closed group game. In the games, the best choice for any single player depends critically on his beliefs about what the other players might do. Nash proposed that people look for outcomes where each player is making an optimal choice, which is now known as the “Nash equilibrium.” In a “Nash equilibrium” it is reasonable for each player to believe that all other players are playing optimally, as these beliefs are actually confirmed by the choices each player makes.

Some 100 scientists from Turkey and 1,000 scientists from the international arena attend the GAMES 2012 Congress, which assemble the most prestigious scientists studying in the branches of economics and applied mathematics.

During the congress 550 presentations and various common sessions, including a Nobel panel, were planned to be conducted.

In today’s program “The U.S. ‘Incentive Auction’ and Mechanism Design” titled session will be held.

The Game Theory congress, which has great prestige in international academic circles, is held once every four years and will end on July 26.