Who should remove snow? This weird math puzzle may help
The blizzard is a real-life example of what game theorists call the “snowdrift problem,” a relative of the prisoner’s dilemma that provides clues about why we choose to cooperate.
A blizzard is a true test of the social contract. Nature spreads 12 to 18 inches of discomfort evenly throughout the community and leaves it to you and your neighbors to sort out the mess. Who cleans the streets or sidewalks? what about that “snakedowns”?! Every storm leaves behind a maze of communal responsibility that we have to sort out. not always without struggle.
It is still largely an open mystery why and how social creatures like us choose to cooperate. Game theorists, computer scientists, anthropologists, and behavioral economists have all come at this problem from different angles. There is also a scientific version of the blizzard puzzle called the “snowdrift problem”.
This is a variation of the prisoner’s dilemma, where two accomplices in a robbery are separated and asked to sneak up on each other. Each must decide whether to betray their partner in order to be free or to remain silent in the hope that both will go free. (If both hesitate, both go to jail.) The snowdrift problem asks a related question: Who should shovel in a selfish world?
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Imagine you wake up in the middle of a blizzard and you have to go to work. You manage to get your car out and make it halfway, until the road is blocked due to heavy snowfall. There is another car coming from the other direction that is also stuck, and you both have a shovel.
Both drivers must choose whether to cooperate or not. The game awards points to each of four possible outcomes. If you can convince the other person to do all the tasks you win the most points. If both agree to work together the pay is moderate – everyone gets to their job with minimal delay. And if your opponent chooses to stay warm in the car, you’re still better off shoveling. It’s not fair, but at least you’ll (eventually) get where you’re going.
Game theorists usually divide the decision into several rounds, such that the two drivers negotiate again after shoveling every few minutes. Compared to the direct consequences of the prisoner’s dilemma, escaping in the snowdrift problem scenario is not as devastating. (Any delay in action results in years in prison.) But in both games, theorists argue, it is generally better to deceive your opponent if you can. This result raises a question: Why do humans cooperate as much as we do?
Studies show where Blizzard’s version of the game leads Prisoner’s Dilemma Cooperates Over. And many sociologists think the former is a better proxy for real-world cooperative challenges, where betrayal often harms oneself as well as others.
The snowdrift problem and its types are still an active area of ​​study. Recently scientists experimented Graph Theory for Evaluating a New StrategyWhat they call “poor-blame-rich-cooperation”. This roughly translates to the following advice: Check if your neighbors are cooperating; If their paths seem clear, you should decide to pitch in too.
Scientists turn to these extremely simple models because cooperation is a true wonder of the natural world. Natural selection appears to dictate selfishness in most situations, and yet, throughout the animal kingdom, we see the fruits of cooperation. Games like the Snowdrift Problem are one way to explore this puzzle using simple mathematics, with the aim of discovering how a group of selfish individuals combine into a coherent society.
Now stop procrastinating and walk on that path.
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