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Using Game Theory to Discuss Strategy Toward COVID-19
Let me illustrate why carefully contain the coronavirus is the best strategy for a country like Taiwan
Viral FB post: strategy toward COVID-19 in a game
A friend of mine shared a recent viral FB post in Taiwan to me. The post used game theory to discuss how countries use different strategies toward COVID-19. It especially compared the UK’s mitigate strategy with Taiwan’s careful containment approach.
Sadly, the game theory concept used in the post was not accurate at all. To my surprise, it was “liked” over 5,900 times and shared elsewhere for over 5,200 times. I can’t resist to at least inform the writer of the post what went wrong.
Remedies
I first left some comments in the original FB post to remind him how different they are for the meaning of “strategy” and “outcome” in game theory.
I also added the writer as a friend on FB, to send private messages regarding bigger problems he has with his game theory model. In short, he did not get the concept in full.
Luckily, he took it well and modified a few big misunderstandings at his post. I then further drew a game’s payoff matrix based on his…
