On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 10:18:32PM -0800, meekerdb wrote: > > But I see nothing that would imply that a rational agent is > predictable or that he could not make a random choice. > > Brent >
Because assuming that more than one choice is available, and that they all having differing values of utility, making a random choice has only a probability of 1/n of being the rational choice. I can concede that making a random choice amongst options of equal and optimal utility could satisfy the definition of rational as a borderline case, but I like the picture of Robby the robot saying "that doesn't compute" and promptly blowing a fuse. (Let me know if I've got my SciFi wires crossed here, please). But it is still the case that a strategy of sometimes choosing less optimal actions at random can in some situations lead to a better payoff than always playing the rational choice. Cheers -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
