A Puzzle with Preferences
A puzzle in rational preference change.
Conservation of Energy & The Generator Dilemma
Sometimes as individuals we can act as one. In the book As One, Individual Actions Collective Power, the authors write that they have discovered “that there are many modes of “As One behavior” and that all are effective in certain contexts. As One defines eight archetypes of leaders and followers. Taking more than 60 cases…
Taking a Hint v. Calculations
Schelling argues that resolving conflicts require a different attitude than solving a mathematical problem. “Taking a hint is fundamentally different from deciphering aformal communication or solving a mathematical problem;it involves discovering a message that has been plantedwithin a context by someone who thinks he shares withthe recipient certain impressions or associations.” This idea is explored…
Binary Choices
This is a remarkable paper by Schelling, in part because he is asking for examples of his models. This is unusual, as Schelling usually has a wealth of genuine examples for each model he discusses. One of the benefits of the WM Toolkit for Negotiation trainers is that we can construct the discrete versions for…
Social Predicaments & Dilemmas
This short video lays the ground work for the WM Toolkit, a series of tools designed to link Schelling’s ideas about collective action with variants of a negotiation exercise, well known to negotiation trainers, the Win as Much as You Can Game. There is a novel and important distinction that these models reveal. Although, B…
Plot Overview – Diagrams of the Various Social Predicaments
Some 50 years after his article “Hockey Helmets, Concealed Weapons, and Daylight Saving: A Study of Binary Choices with Externalities“, there are remains basic confusions about the varieties of social dilemmas or predicaments. There are 3 sorts of confusions: not distinguishing between a “Schelling” diagram and a “Dawes” diagram, not distinguishing between the basic shapes…