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Erez Yoeli
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Hidden Games: The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behavior Kindle Edition

by Erez Yoeli (Author), Moshe Hoffman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 out of 5 stars 91
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Two  MIT economists  show  how  game theory—the ultimate theory of rationality—explains irrational behavior    

We like to think of ourselves as rational. This idea is the foundation for classical economic analysis of human behavior, including the awesome achievements of game theory. But as behavioral economics shows, most behavior doesn’t seem rational at all—which, unfortunately, to cast doubt on game theory’s real-world credibility.  

In Hidden Games, Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli find a surprising middle ground between the hyperrationality of classical economics and the hyper-irrationality of behavioral economics. They call it hidden games. Reviving game theory, Hoffman and Yoeli use it to explain our most puzzling behavior, from the mechanics of Stockholm syndrome and internalized misogyny to why we help strangers and have a sense of fairness.  

Fun and powerfully insightful, Hidden Games is an eye-opening argument for using game theory to explain all the irrational things we think, feel, and do.

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  1. Print length
    379 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Basic Books
  5. Publication date
    April 5, 2022
  6. File size
    3257 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Moshe Hoffman is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab Human Dynamics Group and lecturer at Harvard's department of economics. His research focuses on using game theory, models of learning and evolution, and experimental methods to decipher the motives that shape our social behavior, preferences, and ideologies. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Erez Yoeli is a research associate at MIT's Sloan School of Management, where he directs the Applied Cooperation Team (ACT). His research focuses on altruism: understanding how it works and how to promote it. Yoeli collaborates with governments, nonprofits, and companies to apply the lessons of this research towards addressing real-world challenges like increasing energy conservation, improving antibiotic adherence, reducing smoking in public places, and promoting philanthropy. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Moshe Hoffman is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab Human Dynamics Group and lecturer at Harvard's department of economics. His research focuses on using game theory, models of learning and evolution, and experimental methods to decipher the motives that shape our social behavior, preferences, and ideologies. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Erez Yoeli is a research associate at MIT's Sloan School of Management, where he directs the Applied Cooperation Team (ACT). His research focuses on altruism: understanding how it works and how to promote it. Yoeli collaborates with governments, nonprofits, and companies to apply the lessons of this research towards addressing real-world challenges like increasing energy conservation, improving antibiotic adherence, reducing smoking in public places, and promoting philanthropy. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Review

"Hidden Games is a pair of x-ray specs for your mind; it gives you the ability to penetrate surfaces and see what's going on at a deeper level. And the writing is as good as the ideas, which is saying something."―Andrew McAfee, author of More from Less and coauthor of The Second Machine Age

"You’ll find the passion for game theory in every page of this brilliant book, which is packed with fresh and clear insights that will change the way you think about the world."―Uri Gneezy, co-author of The Why Axis

“Skillfully wielding the instruments of game theory, Hoffman and Yoeli entertainingly cut away the veneer of social life. The duo delivers a penetrating look at the cold logic shaping the puzzling patterns that pervade our actions and communities.” ―Joe Henrich, author of The WEIRDest People in the World

“Hidden Games is a fascinating tour of how game theory can explain the intricacies and quirks of human behavior; and Hoffman and Yoeli are expert guides. This is a book I will come back to again and again.” ―Nichola Raihani, author of The Social Instinct

“Hidden Games is a great read. Hoffman and Yoeli show how widespread but puzzling behavior can result from self-interest, explaining subtle, important ideas in a snappy, accessible style.”―Rob Boyd, author of A Different Kind of Animal

"This is one of those books that you pick up and then can't put down; next thing you know, you’ve been reading for hours and forgotten to go to bed (true story). Filled with quirky facts and perspective-shifting insights, Hidden Games explains some of human beings' most puzzling behavior with one of the most powerful theories ever devised: game theory." ―Steve Stewart-Williams, author of The Ape that Understood the Universe

"In this fascinating book, Hoffman and Yoeli show how the tools of economics can be used to understand a wide range of real-world phenomena. The authors show time and again that many types of human behavior which seem inconsistent with consciously rational behavior can be understood once we realize that those same forces are operating below the surface.  Indeed, this book shows the magic of what is hidden from view."

―Kevin M. Murphy, MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Economics at the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09CPPFCNS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (April 5, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 5, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3257 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 379 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 91

About the author

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Erez Yoeli

Erez Yoeli

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Erez Yoeli is a research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on altruism: understanding how it works and how to promote it. He collaborates with governments, nonprofits, and companies to address real-world challenges like increasing energy conservation, improving antibiotic adherence, and promoting philanthropy.

Erez teaches the undergraduate Game Theory course at Harvard and regularly publishes academic research articles. He shares his research through featured articles in the New York Times, the Economist, Quartz, StatNews, and Behavioral Scientist. His research has also been profiled nationally and internationally in publications like TIME and the Huffington Post.

Erez received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and has worked as an economist at the US Federal Trade Commission. In his pre-economist days, he was a classical percussionist.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
91 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Andrew McAfee
5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate book for changing how you see the world
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2022
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DISCLOSURE: I blurbed this book.
I blurbed it because it's great. I call it "the ultimate book for changing how you see the world" because it asks and answers ultimate questions: questions about why things are the way they are. In this case, why are we humans so weird?
Why do we give so much to charity, yet give so ineffectively?
Why do some of us love spicy foods, while others can't stand it (hint: it's not genetics)?
Why are we so vengeful, when we know that revenge won't bring back what was taken from us?
Why do politicians spin all the time, even though we know they're spinning?
Why do untrained people like cheap wine, while connoisseurs have expensive taste?

The great value of this book is that it gives us a unifying way to look at us weird and wonderful humans that answers all of these questions, and equips us to answer many more. The great pleasure of this book is that it does so with wit, good writing, a light touch, and math only if you want it.

Highly, highly recommended.
5 people found this helpful
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Pragathi Jha
3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for beginners
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
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I got this book because the word "irrational" on the cover piqued my interest. Was kinda bummed to see it was talking about seemingly strange behaviour. Still not a bad book, quite entertaining.
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Financial Physician
4.0 out of 5 stars Not A "Game" Changer--Still Worth It
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023
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This is a good book chock full of good info and decent reviews of appropriate studies. If you've read Dan Ariely (yes he is alleged to have fudged his studies, but his analyses and discussions, if not his conclusions, are excellent), Nobel laureate Kahneman and Tversky, James Surowiecki and others, this offers not much new. On the other hand if those names are not familiar this can be a real eye opener. Or this book can be a good reminder. I enjoyed it and could not tell if it was written as a committee or if they have distinctive styles. Glad I have it and read it. You won't be disappointed if you do too.
One person found this helpful
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stacy
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book which has helped me understand events in my own life
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2022
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Hidden games is a wonderful read that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in understanding more about the seemingly unexplainable and odd quirks of human, social behavior. The authors employ very simple games to understand things as diverse as human rights to longer pinky fingernails. Throughout the book, it was cool to learn niche historical facts, anthropological frameworks, and cutting edge behavioral research. Ultimately, I came out with a greater understanding of why certain events in my life and the world unfolded the way they did. It’s a great book for anyone from the academic scholar to the curious high schooler.
One person found this helpful
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Joseph Connolly
2.0 out of 5 stars Informative book with to much irrelevant political commentary
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2022
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The technical portions of the book are clear and useful. There's to many asides and examples in which with author's political bias detracts from an otherwise useful book. If I didn't pay the money I world read the last 50 pages
9 people found this helpful
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Nancy Haller
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read .......
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022
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During a group discussion about why people sometimes do the peculiar things that they do, a participant recommended this book as a resource. I read the book and found that it provides a fascinating history as well as answers to questions about human behavior. The title, Hidden Games, is perfect for describing what goes on behind the scenes to motivate our choices. My background is in science not economics but I had minimal difficulty understanding concepts and reasoning. A great read! NGHaller
One person found this helpful
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Robert Ray
3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but.......
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2022
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This is a somewhat useful introduction to game theory but I suspect it left out a lot. Game theory is important in foreign policy and strategy but that's not apparent from this book as it is limited to individuals' behavior. It is too focused on individual incentives (here primary rewards) and fails to recognize the importance of other motivations (ethics, morality, self altruism). Incentives are certainly important but to say they are responsible for almost all human action is silly (the authors exemplify "to a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail"). Anonymous donations and sacrifices are completely inexplicable to the authors; why would anyone do something if no one would know about it? According to the authors' logic one could say that Mother Teresa went to help the poor in Calcutta only/mostly so she could become famous. Their last chapter fails completely to explain people's passions (e.g. Bobby Fischer's total involvement in chess); I do not think the prospect of future fame and fortune is much incentive to an 8 year old who just loves the challenge of chess. A former CEO of Exxon, Rex Tillerson, is used as an example of someone who has 'internalized' his beliefs (doubts about global warming) ijn opposition to "top scientists." What Tillerson knows (and the authors, top scientists, too many politicians and most of the world's 'elite' don't) is how important energy is every aspect of our daily lives and how extremely difficult it will be to eliminate fossil fuels (readers and the authors with a future of electrical blackouts and gas over $ 6 a gallon will soon find out what they and our 'elites' don't know). And the authors use the TV show "The Wired' for examples of norm enforcement; surely they could have found another real life example.
6 people found this helpful
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MPC
5.0 out of 5 stars Do you want get a taste of the ultimate explanations for human behavior?
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2022
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This book changed how I think about human behavior.

I have the intuition that this *sort* of thing will be the future of the field. It's early days yet, and this is foundational work, so what you're getting here is not a fully-developed science but rather a glimpse of what is to be.

The writing is fun and nothing is beyond an interested non-expert's ability to understand. I see some complaining in reviews here about the exact examples the authors picked (by people who found them against their own political persuasion), but I feel I should shout from the rooftops that the *specific content* of the examples is much less important than the general *way of thinking* that is outlined here. What you really need to take away from this book is the general program, the general way of thinking about human behavior. And, incidentally, that's also and why you should pick it up in the first place.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars very interesting book. A new way to understand behaviour.
Reviewed in India on March 2, 2023
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very interesting book. It will be helpful to understand some concepts if you know little bit maths. Even otherwise you can enjoy it.
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Satish
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic insights into game theory
Reviewed in India on September 9, 2022
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It explains in simple terms how game theory applies to everyday situations and also in evolution.
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Uta C. Groeschel
4.0 out of 5 stars Some food for thought
Reviewed in Germany on June 11, 2022
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The authors present a fresh option for looking at incentives, rewards and consequences. Lots of anecdotes make it fun to read - and if the Game Theory diagrams feel a bit heavy for you, just skip them. You’ll still get a lot out of the book.
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