Yale economics professor Barry Nalebuff teaches game theory in his clases, which uses math to describe and even predict how people will behave in a whole range of situations.
"It [game theory] is the science of strategy. It's recognizing that the success of what you do depends on what other people do," Nalebuff said.
John Nash, the mathematician featured in the movie "A Beautiful Mind," won the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory, proving there's a way for everyone in a group to be happy with the outcome.
The credible-threat theory is part of what won the Nobel Prize for Thomas Schelling of the University of Maryland. According to Schelling, for a threat to work, you must have absolutely no doubt that it will happen.
It's why parental threats don't always control their kids' behavior. The kids know that when push comes to shove, the parents will cave and won't go through with their punishment.
But in a credible-threat scenario that worked, the Russians and the Americans so totally convinced one another other they would use nuclear weapons that neither side struck first.
Scientists are now finding that this 'Theory' works VERY well with human behavior. Read the first story, and you'll see what I mean. The second story was very interesting, too.
