Kevin Zollman, philosophy professor, co-author of The Game Theorist's Guide, reveals winning strategies against smart opponents.

JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React, Angular, Vue, Node.js, Express, Bootstrap, jQuery, Webpack, Babel, Redux, Gulp, Sass

Win one is confronted with a situation that is truly zero-sum, where one party is going to win and the other party is going to lose. The situation is very complicated and sometimes difficult to analyze. Game theory spent much of its early days analyzing zero-sum games and trying to figure out what's the best strategy. It's a little complicated because it depends critically on how sophisticated you think the other party is. If they're very, very, very smart, the chances that you're going to outthink them are not very high. In such a situation, oftentimes the best strategy is very counterintuitive because it involves flipping a coin or rolling a dice or doing something random. Professional poker players know this and they oftentimes advocate in poker strategy books that one should occasionally do something completely counterintuitive in order to keep your opponents off guard. In fact, game theory has shown that this is good, solid, mathematically well-founded advice that oftentimes what you want to do is engage in a kind of random strategy. Game theorists call this a mixed strategy in order to make sure that your opponent can't get the leg up on you. The nice thing about these random strategies is that they ensure that your opponent can never outthink you. So even if you think your opponent's a little smarter than you or a little bit sophisticated than you or has a little bit more information than you do, the fact that you're being random to a certain extent means that they can't outthink you. Now how do you figure out how to be random? I'm not saying just flip a coin all the time or whatever. What game theorists have figured out is that in zero-sum games, the best strategy to pursue when you're against a sophisticated opponent is to adopt the strategy which minimizes your maximum loss. This is sometimes called the mini-max strategy. So the idea is you think, what's the worst case scenario for me? What could my opponent do that would make me worst off? And then you figure out what's the best strategy against that. So you're minimizing your maximum loss. Game theorists prove that if you use this way of thinking, minimizing your maximum loss, you ensure that no matter how sophisticated your opponent is, you've guarded against the worst case scenario and not only that, but in zero-sum games, you've done the best you can possibly do. That's not true in games that aren't zero-sum. So one has to be very careful about employing this strategy because if you're mistaken and you're not in a zero-sum interaction, you can end up ruining it for everybody. But if you're truly in a zero-sum interaction, this is one of the strategies that you can use. Now suppose you're dealing with an opponent who's not sophisticated. You're smarter than they are. There, it depends very much on how smart are they? Can you outthink them? And what's the individual interaction that you're engaged in? So poker players, to return to the example of poker players, poker players will engage in interactions where they're trying to think, well, does my opponent think I'm going to bluff here? Yes or no? And maybe I'll do the opposite. But that's going to depend on how smart is your opponent, what are they thinking about, and the individual interaction that you're engaged in. Game theorists have actually proven, although it's not very helpful, but game theorists have actually proven that there's no one-size-fits-all strategy in a situation where you're dealing with an opponent who is not very sophisticated.

Dr. Andrew Huberman explains a purely behavioral tool that has proven to aid in increasing focus and concentration significantly by teaching refocus. Economist Tyler Cowen reveals how ditching scripted interviews & sparking natural conversations can unlock hidden talent & elevate your hiring game. To grow a big business, place small little bets. Khan explains here how his tutoring hobby grew into something that has changed the face of education on an unprecedented scale. Jordan Peterson simplifies the solution to conquering social anxiety, offering advice on effortlessly overcoming social fears. It doesn’t matter if you fail, it matters how you fail. Harvard professor Amy Edmondson shows how "intelligent failures" (like a scientist testing hypotheses) are key to success. Success lies in building rare skills—your Career Capital. Research your path, learn from those ahead, and align efforts with what truly matters to avoid dead ends. Discover essential keys for accelerating your company's growth and ensuring sound decision-making from Mark Zuckerberg. Scott H. Young speaks about the #1 rule for writing — write about what you like to read, regardless of what others think. Y Combinator CEO and Partner Michael Seibel on what makes the top 10% of founders different. Empowering Beyond Borders: My journey to 120 countries inspired the creation of an NGO framework for women in Ghana, transforming product mgmt into mission to achieve impossible Explore Twitch's remarkable journey in gaming livestreaming, from startup to Amazon acquisition, with one of its co-founders, Michael Seibel. A.I isn’t a human replacement. It’s a tool to augment your knowledge. Jim Kwik shows how A.I enhances learning and skills to accelerate goal achievement. What is branding? Marty Neumeier, an author who helps companies like Apple, Adobe, and Google to build their brands, gives us a crash course on branding. Strategy expert Roger Martin gives insights on steering clear of the "planning trap" and the importance of prioritizing strategy over excessive planning. You might think the pursuit of self-sufficiency and business creation are contradictory. Tom Greenwood shows how entrepreneurship can create a healthier model for society. April Dunford, world-leading expert on positioning for B2B tech companies, explains why the Hero's Journey framework works for traditional storytelling, but not for B2B sales. Talk to anyone in every type of interaction and situation with these communication tips and body language tricks! A defining moment as cofounder in my brand agency sparked a passion to help others navigate the complexities of co-founding. Now I coach cofounders to build successful partnerships Building a start-up and finding co-founders in a field that isn’t your core competency. Scaling your startup after product-market fit. As Head of Marketing for Blueberry Markets, I share my 5-step growth strategy framework & a 70% referral program success story.