In Game Theory
In game theory, a "no-win" situation is one in which no player benefits from any outcome. This may be because of any or all of the following:
- Unavoidable or unforeseeable circumstances causing the situation to change after decisions have been made. This is common in Text adventures.
- Zugzwang, as in chess, when any move a player chooses makes him worse off than before
- A situation in which the player has to accomplish two mutually dependent tasks each of which must be completed before the other or that are mutually exclusive (a Catch-22)
- Ignorance of other players' actions, meaning the best decision for all differs from that for any one player (as in the Prisoner's Dilemma).
Read more about this topic: No-win Situation
Famous quotes containing the words game and/or theory:
“Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“Every theory is a self-fulfilling prophecy that orders experience into the framework it provides.”
—Ruth Hubbard (b. 1924)