Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from stories Lorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626 Reconstructing games from stories why we should want to do it and why it will be hard to do so 20150626 Peter van Emde Boas, ILLC-FNWI-UvA and Bronstee.com Software & Services B.V. Workshop Clusters, Games and Axioms (previously presented at CiE 2014 – Budapest)
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Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from stories Lorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626 Reconstructing games from stories why we should want to do it and.
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Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Reconstructing games from storieswhy we should want to do it and why it will be hard to do so
20150626
Peter van Emde Boas, ILLC-FNWI-UvA andBronstee.com Software & Services B.V.
Workshop Clusters, Games and Axioms(previously presented at CiE 2014 – Budapest)
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Topics
• Origin of the problem– A rather unusual inference problem
• Reasons why it is hard to solve• What does this tell us about shortcomings of
game theory
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
The Project
• Preparation for the handbook of the history of logic in China
• (History of Logic in China III meeting at Nankai University; April 2014)
• My contribution is a chapter in this handbook: – Ancient Chinese theory of Military Strategy: Sun Tzu and
Sun Bin– Connections to Logic, and Game Theory– Contemporary perspective
• This presentation is about an issue inspired by this project: – Determine whether the Ancient Chinese Warlords actually
did use the strategic guidelines proposed by their masters
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Sources used
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
SourcesSun Tzu The Art of War around 500 BC
Romance of the Three Kingdoms around 1400 ADdescribing events during the period 168 – 260 AD (A period ofCivil war leading to the end of the Han Dynasty)
The 13 chapters in the classic Sun Tzu Art of War
1 Strategic Assessments 8 Adaptations2 Doing Battle 9 Maneuvring Armies3 Planning a Siege 10 Terrain4 Formation 11 Nine Grounds5 Force 12 Fire Attack6 Emptiness and Fullness 13 On the use of Spies7 Armed Struggle
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Motivating QuoteVictorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeatedVictorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to winwarriors go to war first and then seek to win
Sun Tzu, the Art of WarSun Tzu, the Art of War
This phrase invites to analyze the situation before engaging in battle.
Did the ancient Chinese actually use such an Analysis?
What could the Chinese have analyzed in a concrete situation?
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
A fundamental problem
• How to research these questions?• We find in historical texts and literature examples
of actual battles in Ancient China• These texts provide us with Stories• We read about the use of Stratagems in these
stories– Stratagem: trick or deceit during warfare
• What does this tell about the actual strategic situation?
• How can we model this strategic situation in terms of a Game?
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Reconstructing Games from Stories
From a given story, invent some plausible game so that the story becomes a play in the game.
This makes it possible to appreciate the behavior of the opponents in the story
Were they rational, wise, sensitive, compassionate, …?
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
A related field: Narratology
• A form of literature study, aimed at constructing formal representations of the content of stories
• Primary target: a sequence of events• But that’s not all
– What did opponents know?– What did opponents believe?– What did opponents desire?– What did opponents expect?
• It is a non-trivial task!
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Narratology and games
• When are two stories similar or equivalent?– This has been studied
• Are two stories instances of similar or equivalent Games / Strategic Contexts?– This could be a new question
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Example of Narratology study
Higher order theory-of-mind representation of preferences and/or expectations of agents participating in the stories.
Example stories from popular TV crime series
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
A key observation in this study
• Agents may have false beliefs about the expectations and preferences of other agents
• These false beliefs are essential for understanding the events in the story
• This violates a basic assumption in Game theory: the assumption that the agents have common knowledge of the game– This common knowledge includes the
preferences of the agents
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
The Martian Observer’s problem
How much can the Martian Observer learn about the Go Game by observing a (single) play performed by human players?
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Joseph and the wife of Potifar
• Story from Genesis 39; first book in the Bible, old testament
• Joseph is sold by his jealous brothers in slavery
• He arrives in Egypt where he becomes slave and housemaster of lord Potifar
• Potifars wife makes several attempts to seduce Joseph; they all fail.
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Story in the Bible
Potifar’s wife, being alone with Joseph, makes another attempt having lured Joseph into her bedroom
Joseph again refuses and wants to escape; but he looses part of his cloth
Wife accuses Joseph of an attempted rape
Potifar believes wife
Joseph is send to prison
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626
Story in the Qu’ran (Soura 12, 23-36)
Potifar’s wife, being alone with Joseph, makes another attempt having lured Joseph into her bedroom
Joseph again refuses and wants to escape; but he looses part of his cloth
Wife accuses Joseph of an attempted rape
Joseph defends himself; a clever witness presents evidence of his innocence ( from which side the cloth was torn ? )
Potifar does not believes his wife
Joseph is acquitted (initially)
and then something strange happens
Joseph is taken into protective custody
An alternative storyline involving a choice point unmentioned in the Bible
Peter van Emde Boas: Reconstructing games from storiesLorentz Center, Leiden, 20150626