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Proposal: Game Theory

I guess Game Theory proposal should be merged to Economics proposal

See http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1618/economics

I like game theory, but I am not really convinced that we need a separate forum for game theory only.

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5 Answers

up vote 18 down vote accepted

Game theory is used in many fields, not just economics. I agree with you, though; I don't see why it would deserve its own Stack Exchange.

Since it's a branch of applied mathematics, it should go on Math.SE.

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It also applies to politics, sociology, psychology, computing science, and a whole host of other subjects. Perhaps the other categories should be tags within game theory? – oosterwal Mar 5 '11 at 4:12
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@oosterwal: Each of those field will eventually have a Stack Exchange site. They can have their own game theory tag. As for the Game Theory proposal, it's a math proposal and, as such, should be closed as redundant with Math.SE. – Borror0 Mar 5 '11 at 12:56
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Game Theory is the study of decision making. It's an emerging branch of science that is still being formalized. Much like psychology in it's early days. Game Theory has application in many fields but does not belong completely within any that I know of. It is so much more than just applied mathematics. I hope other SE users can recognize this. – logicbird Apr 11 '11 at 5:20
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@logicbird, "Game Theory has application in many fields but does not belong completely within any that I know of". Many topics are in similar situation, they are used and studied by different people for different reasons, but that doesn't mean that each of them need their own site. – Kaveh Apr 25 '11 at 10:39
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@logicbird: Game Theory is a little different than the study of decision making. That's Decision Theory. Game Theory is the study of how decision makers interact with one another. – becko Aug 23 '11 at 16:13
@beko: I see, that is a distinction that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing it. – logicbird Aug 24 '11 at 12:42
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up vote 3 down vote

Probably it is a good idea for game theory followers to commit to the economics proposal

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up vote 2 down vote

Game Theory is applied in many different fields. Now, what all those applications of game theory have in common is the abstract mathematical theory of game theory. Thus, Game Theory, as a subject of its own that formalizes the common ground of all those applications, is a mathematical theory, and I think it belongs to the Math.SE. Having a separate Game Theory SE would be like having a separate Calculus SE (maybe someday that will be necessary, but I don't think the Math.SE is that overcrowded yet.)

Applications of Game Theory to specific subjects, such as economics, should be discussed in the pertinent forums with the Tag 'Game Theory'. That's my humble opinion, anyway.

P.S.: However, I was told that there's no such thing as 'merging' different proposals in Area51. A moderator can confirm or correct me.

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"Having a separate Game Theory SE would be like having a separate Calculus SE". Exactly. And likewise, while theoretical calculus belongs in Maths.SE, applied calculus belongs in the .SE for which ever field it's being applied to. – naught101 Feb 25 at 3:04
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up vote 2 down vote

I think having a Game Theory could actually be a topic on its own. Actually we can see that some users suggest it should go along with Math SE, some others suggest it should go with Economics SE proposal, and so on.

I think Game Theory is a topic that should have its own SE site, as so many different types of people might be willing to interact on the subject. As Math SE is, from what I've seen, very technical, I think some users with limited mathematical knowledge will not be willing to post the question on that site. Besides, some users might also be interested in asking questions on how Game Theory can be applied to a certain field.

It's at least worst having a public beta.

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up vote 1 down vote

I would be very happy to have a Game Theory Site. I would like to apply it to Power Electronics. It would be difficult to post questions related to it on an Economics site or Maths site without getting kicked out immediately as off-topic...

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