Game Theory

Cooperation, Dialogue, Economics, Environmental disputes, Game Theory, Governments/Public Sector, Interests, Mediation and Society, Public Policy, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /Leave a comment

‘Entangled Life’ by Merlin Sheldrake is a fascinating look into the role that fungi play in making the natural world what it is. From the impact on humans to the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and trees. The relationship between humans, plants and fungi is also the focus of the Welcome Collection’s current exhibition ‘Rooted…

ADR, Bias, Commercial Mediation, Dispute Resolution, Game Theory, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation wisdom, Reality-Testing

(Bruce Greig, Civil and Commercial Mediator)/ /1 Comment

Kleros is a cryptocurrency dispute resolution platform. It uses crypto tokens and game theory to resolve real-world disputes. It follows an automated process with no discussion, no nuance, no probing questions. It seems to be at the opposite end of the dispute resolution spectrum to mediation. Yet I think there is something that mediators can…

Cooperation, Game Theory, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice

(Bond & Bond Mediation / University of Wildau )/ /8 Comments

A mediation ended without amicable agreement. The parties had reached that understanding only. It had taken several sessions over several weeks, with plenty of recrimination about the past that further damaged already damaged relationships. At least there was clarity. The consequences were clear too. It was not the preferred solution. What did this do with…

Dialogue, Economics, Game Theory, Negotiation, The role of the mediator, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /4 Comments

John Sturrock and I recently had the pleasure of contributing a session on game theory and mediation to a workshop on global conflict and dispute resolution hosted by the Delhi Metropolitan Education College. Preparing for the event led me to reflect further on game theory and its relationship to mediation. In summary, game theory analyses…

Conflict, Cooperation, crisis negotiatons, Dialogue, Economics, Game Theory, Governments/Public Sector, International Mediation, Mediation and Society, Public Policy, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /Leave a comment

“Humanity has outsmarted itself. With its ingenuity, this tribal ape has created a world its tribalism can’t manage. We know this…But the knowledge is not enough.” So began Martin Wolf in a recent article in the Financial Times following a meeting of the finance ministers of the G20 – one of the institutions created to improve…

COVID-19, crisis negotiatons, Dialogue, Economics, Environmental Mediation, Game Theory, Governments/Public Sector, International Mediation, Mediation and Society, Public Policy

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /1 Comment

So ended a recent article in the FT by Martin Wolf on the economic response needed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In it he argues that Governments acting in the collective interest must be the buyer of last resort as well as the lender of last resort to prevent the economy imploding as…

Business, Cognitive Bias, Creativity, Economics, Efficiency, Environmental Mediation, Game Theory, Mediation and Society, Public Policy

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /Leave a comment

If the natural resources of the planet and its capacity to cope with our waste are finite, is it reasonable for mediators to be encouraging people to search for positive sum solutions which can benefit all parties to a negotiation? If you can achieve a win-win in one case could it, on a global scale,…

Decision making, Economics, Game Theory, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Negotiation

(Core Solutions Group / Scottish Universities Insight Institute)/ /2 Comments

One way of describing mediation is as a process that seeks to convert what is apparently a zero or negative sum game into a positive-sum game. This is to use the language of game theory, which analyses strategies that rational players take to secure the best outcomes in interactive, interdependent ‘games’; where the outcome for…

Brexit, Developing the Field, Dispute Resolution, Game Theory, Negotiation

(Greg Rooney Mediator)/ /Leave a comment

The U.K.’s decision to leave the EU and the voting in of the protectionist Donald Trump to the US presidency has drawn both the UK and the USA into the Nash Trap. U.S. mathematician John Nash (the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind’) postulated that Adam Smith’s declaration that ‘In competition, individual ambition serves the common good’…

Game Theory, History of mediation, mediation as a career, mediation models, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Perception, Philosophy, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Promoting Mediation, Scotland, Uncategorized

(Core Solutions Group)/ /Leave a comment

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.” These words of Voltaire are as apt today as they were when he wrote them in the 18th century. I don’t know about you but this year seems to be a curious mixture where some people purport to deal in apparent certainties, which…