Write about a moment of clarity that you experienced after studying a particular aspect of game theory. What was it that changed for you? Relate your experience to the particular game or concept. Your submission should be eight-hundred+ words.

Example

I was reading about a game similar to the courtship game in chapter 11 which made me realize that I needed to propose to my then girlfriend (and now wife). No, it was not motivated by the desire to "be intimate" as the book suggests...let me give you a bit of a background.

Erin and I had been dating long distance while I finished my PhD and she finished her Masters. We were living together in Florida, where we both had family and the support network of our friends. I had accepted a job at Penn State and wanted her to move to (the middle of nowhere) Pennsylvania with me. She did not have any friends or job prospects in the area at the time. Since we were "just" boyfriend and girlfriend at the time, she may have been concerned that she would make the move and then we would separate.

In the Courtship game, the woman is worried about her reputation if she has premarital sex and then ends up not marrying the man. In real life, Erin was worried about how her future would be compromised if she moved for me and then we separated. My costly gift was getting married before moving (even though we had a small ceremony and there was no diamond involved). If I intended to only use Erin to help me get accustomed to my new environs then move on to another relationship, then getting married would be extremely costly for me (well, the divorce part would be costly). Getting married gave her the assurance that she could move to PA with me and begin to look for jobs and plan a future with me.