Re: Coordinating Sex Roles

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Mon, 7 Apr 1997 14:24:35 -0700 (PDT)


> >This is to sneak in the assumption that the rules of the game include
> >the social norms.
>
> Sorry, this is just not true. Games really can have multiple
> equilibria, even with no explicit modeling of "social norms".
> Consider the standard 2x2 "battle of the sexes" game.

I understand the math perfectly; I am questioning your particular
application of it to the real world. You claim, correctly, that
different sets of rules will lead to different equilibira--I agree.
But you seem to imply that we should then teach our children the
set of rules that leads to solutions we think beneficial. I claim
that we should teach them the /method/ and let them find the rules
themselves, because they will know more than we possibly can about
their world, and they will be its masters, not us.

Of course, I hope to still be around in their world, in some form
or another.

-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>  <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC