Late Learning

I think this is what every class should be like: the professor and students all actively engaged in a conversation discussing various view-points of a topic. The learning environment is so much more conductive and enjoyable. It actually makes me very excited and eager to listen and participate and learn. :) Those rusty brain cells of mine start to churn and process and absorb.

Today we discussed the importance of developing a long-term relationship between buyers and suppliers. The key component to that relationship is open communication/sharing and trust - if this sounds kind of like a relationship between two people, don't be alarmed, a business relationship or any kind of relationship is exactly that - it needs those ingredients. Everything in world is interconnected in one way or another.

Have you heard about this before? We were talking about "Game Theory" and we discussed about The Prisoner's Dilemma. What this model illustrates is how trust can determine the outcome of a situation. Consider the following situation: there are 2 prisoners (e.g. thieves who tend to trust no one) and 4 possible outcomes. If the 2 prisoners both rat each other out, they both get 5 years jail time. If only one of them rats out, then one walks free and the other gets 10 years. If, however, they both trust each other and not rat each other out, they both get only 1 year each. Evidently, this demonstrates that most benefits are reaped when there is trust. This model is related to the Nash Equilibrium, which is devised from John Nash, the mathematician in "A Beautiful Mind". This model is applicable to a lot of things - in economics, social science, politics, and many more. Interestingly, psychology contributes a lot to game theory - which again demonstrates that everything when broken down to its elements, relates back to fundamental relations between entities.

I sound like a total nerd right now. But ah, knowledge fascinates me. :)