What is a zero-sum game?
In: 115
A zero-sum game means that for every gain that one party makes, another party loses an equivalent amount – if one person wins, another loses. Think of tennis, or baseball, or most sports where if I’ve won a point or a game, the opponent has lost that point. If you and I bet $5 on the Super Bowl, even odds, it’s a zero-sum game, because one of us will gain $5 and the other will lose $5.
Non-zero sum games are uneven, where a win for one side isn’t necessarily balanced on the other. There are such things as win-win situations, or lose-lose, for example. A common example is “A husband and wife want to go out tonight – he wants to see a boxing match, but she wants to see the ballet. Both of them would be happier going with each other than going alone to either event.” So if they go to the ballet , the husband “wins less,” and the wife “wins more,” because he’s still happy not being alone, but neither of them has actually lost in this example.
Another common example is a pirate ship attacking a merchant ship – not really a “game,” but the same idea applies. If the merchant ship wins the fight, they haven’t gained anything from the pirates – they’re just continuing on exactly as they were before. Whereas if the pirate ship wins, they’ll get treasure, while the other side has lost a treasure that wasn’t even really theirs (since they were trading it) and has likely lost their lives as well. Not a zero-sum.
Latest Answers