Trapped with Game Theory

by Bethany Mayne

A small group of interested students and faculty were in attendance on Friday, March 13th in McDougall Hall for the first of a three part informal discussion series centered around the BBC documentary The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom. 

The series is a joint presentation by the UPEI Philosophy Society and UPEI Psychology Arts and Sciences Society (PASS). It was organized and run by Charles Beaton, a 5th year philosophy/psychology student. Beaton, a lover of documentaries, says he had been interested in organizing an event like this for a while and had been looking for the right documentary to feature. The Trap incorporates many topics relevant to psychology, psychiatry, game theory, philosophy, economics and politics, opening the floor for discussion and debate among students and faculty from different departments.  

The Trap consists of three one-hour programmes which explore the concept of freedom in Western society and how a narrow, limited definition of freedom could be controlling us. The first part of the documentary, entitled “Fuck You Buddy”, examined the rise of game theory and its effects on economic thought. The title comes from a game invented by John Nash, whose work with mathematical models of human behaviour won him the Nobel Prize in Economics. His models worked based on the assumption that human beings are inherently suspicious and selfish creatures that constantly strategize against one another. The game theory model and Nash's beliefs on human nature have been used far and wide, from models of family interactions to Cold War politics.  

The documentary was well done and full of information, but it was the open discussion where things got really interesting. Dr. Malcolm Murray, UPEI's own “game theory guru”, was in attendance and shared his knowledge with the group. While game theory was presented in a rather poor light in the documentary, Murray argued that game theory is a simply a tool, which could be used in positive or negative ways. His expertise laid the foundation, while Beaton led the discussion through a wide range of topics. Everyone was given opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions, and there was not a moment of dead air.  

I am far from an expert in philosophy or politics, but I very much enjoyed the discussion. I agree wholeheartedly with Beaton: “The most interesting thing about university is talking to people”. The documentary served as a great medium to start discussion, and it was very interesting to hear thoughts, opinions and reactions about the issues raised. Gavin Hall, a 1st year history and political studies student attended the session, and said “It was a great presentation… and it was fantastic to have Professor Murray there to bring to light the biases in the documentary. I look forward to the next installment!” 

The series continues on March 20th and 27th in room 328 in McDougall Hall and is open to all students and faculty who wish to attend. It begins at 2:30 pm.