Re: Article in the Chronicle of Higher Education

["Dr. Bruce R. McFarling" <Bruce.McFarling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 13:12:36 -0500,
"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>,
and I would not be surprised if he bore a
genetic relationship with the auther of
Existence Proofs Simplified, wrote:

>     For a more profound discussion that is based
>on evolutionary game theory, and thus ultimately on
>the Nash equilibrium concept, I would suggest Ken
>Binmore's two volume _Game Theory and the Social
>Contract_, if I have that right.  Very serious
>stuff.

It seems to me that what makes evolutionary game
theory fruitful in biology is the ability to specify
the payoffs in empirically sensible terms that
directly feed back into the strategies likely to be
encountered.

The fact that some of it involves some mathematics
and therefore promises to provide work for some
of the economists currently wasting their time
with utility maxmising fantasies is merely a
side benefit.