A bit of game theory this morning...
Sharon asked me if I would still love Blair even if she turned into an earthworm. Of course I would, I told her, before asking where that question came from. Not that I should have asked -- I tend to come up with stupid questions like that a lot. But apparently this was some kind of internet thingy where people answer that question about their spouses.
She wasn't sure about my confident response. How can I be so sure that I would love Blair-as-earthworm?
But I explained that answering the question properly is really an exercise in game theory. Promising to love Blair even if she becomes an earthworm makes Blair happy* and therefore makes me happy. And there's really no downside to the answer.
"But," Sharon followed up, "if she does turn into a worm, you're stuck with that promise."
It's true, I admitted, that the downside is pretty bad. But there's a very low probability -- I would venture to say nearly 0% -- of such a terrible eventuality. So, weighing the outcomes by their likelihoods, I think I gave the right answer.
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*Truth be told, Blair is very unromantic, and is not into grand gestures such as this. Since she considers it very unlikely that she'll turn into a worm, she doesn't spend time worrying about whether I'd still love her. But for the sake of this blogpost let's assume that she cared very deeply about my response.
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