Finitely Vs Infinitely Repeated Games
Repeated games may be broadly divided into two classes, depending on whether the horizon is finite or infinite. The results in these two cases are very different. Even finitely repeated games are not necessarily finite horizon, the player may just perceive a probability of another cycle and act accordingly. For example, the fact that everyone has a fixed lifetime doesn't mean that all games should be finite horizon. Also, players might act differently when the horizon is far away as opposed to when it is close by, which can probably be thought of as a time modifier function applied to the payoff. The difference in strategies for finite versus infinite horizon games is a hotly debated topic, and many game theorists have differing views regarding it.
Read more about this topic: Repeated Game
Famous quotes containing the words infinitely, repeated and/or games:
“One non-revolutionary weekend is infinitely more bloody than a month of permanent revolution.”
—Graffiti, School of Oriental Languages, London (1968)
“The poem of the mind in the act of finding
What will suffice. It has not always had
To find: the scene was set; it repeated what
Was in the script.
Then the theatre was changed
To something else. Its past was a souvenir.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)