In game theory a move by nature is a decision or move in an extensive form game made by a player who has no strategic interests in the outcome. The effect is to add a player, 'Nature' whose practical role is to act as a random number generator. For instance, a game of Poker requires a dealer to choose which cards a player is dealt, the dealer plays the role of the Nature player
Fig.1 shows a signaling game which begins with a move by nature. Moves by nature are an integral part of games of incomplete information.
Famous quotes containing the words move and/or nature:
“A letter with it
discloses, in its words and between them,
a life opening, fearful, fearless,
thousand-eyed, a field
of sparks that move swiftly
in darkness....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Our rural village life was a purifying, uplifting influence that fortified us against the later impacts of urbanization; Church and State, because they were separated and friendly, had spiritual and ethical standards that were mutually enriching; freedom and discipline, individualism and collectivity, nature and nurture in their interaction promised an ever stronger democracy. I have no illusions that those simpler, happier days can be resurrected.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)