The Mythology of Game Theory

Non-cooperative game theory is at its heart a theory of cognition, specifically a theory of how decisions are made. Game theory\u27s leverage is that we can design different payoffs, settings, player arrays, action possibilities, and information structures, and that these differences lead to different strategies, outcomes, and equilibria. It is well-known that, in experimental settings, people do not adopt the predicted strategies, outcomes, and equilibria. The standard response to this mismatch of prediction and observation is to add various psychological axioms to the game-theoretic framework. Regardless of the differing specific proposals and results, game theory uniformly makes certain cognitive assumptions that seem rarely to be acknowledged, much less interrogated. Indeed, it is not widely understood that game theory is essentially a cognitive theory. Here, we interrogate those cognitive assumptions. We do more than reject specific predictions from specific games. More broadly, we reject the underlying cognitive model implicitly assumed by game theory

An Analysis of Greek Mythology Character in Dota 2 Game. Rio Abadi Kurnia 107010028

The research is entitled An Analysis of Greek Mythology Character in Dota 2 Game. It is a research that analyzes a Greek mythology character in Dota 2. The characters of course focused on some characters who represent and telling in Greek mythology. For analysing that character, the writer thinks that he needs the structure theory. Structuralism is the way of thinking of the world especially related to perception and description of structure. Therefore, the structuralism theory is chosen in this research. The writer thinks that the Greek mythology character in the game as the media is an interesting issue to be analysed because the story of Greek mythology is never ending, there are still a lot of version. It means nowadays, the myth can be delivered with many media. The writer also thinks that Dota 2 is one of the popular in the world, and there was some character who has adapted from Greek mythology.over 600.000 people play this game every day in the world. So the writer think Dota is also something to be interest in order as media for object research. This research has found 7 heroes characters who has influenced from Greek mythology. There are has some similarity and differences. The similarity and differences was like physical bend, abilities, skill, weapons and background story. The heroes character was adapted from Greek mythology with some improvisation in order for interesting the players. Conclusion of this research was game is not only to entertain, but also can educate their players. Game as the media can tell indirectly about western literature works. Myth in western culture was reputed as literary works and verbal. In our country, myth still only reputed as oral. So we can promote our culture with literature works and other media. Keywords: Greek mythology, Dota 2, Characters, Game, Pros

Mytholudics:understanding games as/through myth

This dissertation outlines a mythological framework for understanding how games produce meaning. I first theorise mythology as it applies to games and play. This is expressed through a cycle showing how mythology is embedded in the production of games and how it impacts the interpretation of games. This is then operationalised as a method for the analysis of games. I call my theorisation and analytical approach mytholudics. I then apply mytholudics in ten analyses of individual games or game series, split into two lenses: heroism and monstrosity. Finally, I reflect on these analyses and on mytholudics as an approach.Mythology here is understood through two perspectives: Roland Barthes’ theory outlined in Mythologies (1972/2009) and Frog’s (2015, 2021a) understanding of mythology in cultural practice and discourse from a folklore studies perspective. The Barthesian approach establishes myth as a mode of expression rather than as an object. This has naturalisation as a key feature. Otherwise-arbitrary relations between things are made to seem natural. Frog’s mythic discourse approach understands mythology as “constituted of signs that are emotionally invested by people within a society as models for knowing the world” (2021a, p. 161). Mythic discourse analysis focuses on the comparison of mythic discourses over time and across cultures.Barthes and Frog broadly share an understanding of mythology as a particular way of communicating an understanding of the world through discourse. Mythology is then not limited to any genre, medium or cultural context. It can include phenomena as diverse as systems, rules, customs, rituals, stories, characters, events, social roles and so on. What is important is how these elements relate to one another. Games consist of the same diverse elements arranged in comparable configurations, and so this perspective highlights the otherwise hidden parallels between mythology and games.I argue for analysing games as and through myth. Games as myth means viewing the game as an organising structure that works analogously to mythology. Elements are constructed and put into relation with one another within a gameworld, which the player then plays in and interprets. Games through myth means seeing games as embedded within cultural contexts. The cultural context of development affects the mythologies that can be seen to influence the construction of the game, while the cultural context of the player affects how they relate to the game and the mythologies channelled through it.A mytholudic approach helps us to understand how games make meaning because it focuses on the naturalised and hidden premises that go into the construction of games as organising structures. By analysing the underpinnings of those organising structures, we can outline the model for understanding the world that is virtually instantiated and how they are influenced by, influence and relate to models for understanding the world—mythologies—in the real world

Property as Constitutional Myth: Utilities and Dangers

The ability to perform everyday life occupations is a critical component in both evaluation and intervention for persons with mental retardation (MR). While the ability to perform personal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) has always been important for occupational therapy (OT) practice, there is an absence in OT literature and research with a focus on ADL and persons with MR. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the validity of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) for evaluation and intervention of ADL ability for persons with MR. In order to evaluate the evidence of validity of the AMPS ability measures based on relation to level of MR, two groups of participants with MR were evaluated with the AMPS (,#=22; #= 39). The results indicated expected moderate relationships between ADL motor and ADL process ability measures and level of MR, despite different methods used for evaluating level of MR. The results also indicated that the results of the AMPS evaluation could be used to directly describe and measure the consequences in performance of ADL tasks for persons with different levels of MR. The evidence of validity of the AMPS was further examined in a study including participants with different types of developmental disabilities (e.g., MR, cerebral palsy, spina bifida) (#=1724). An application of many-faceted Rasch analysis was used to examine goodness-of-fit of the responses for the tasks, skill items, and participants included in the study. All tasks and all items except one demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit to the model on the ADL motor and ADL process scales. An expected proportion of participants demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit on the ADL motor scale. On the ADL process scale, a slightly lower proportion of participants than expected demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit. The results indicated further that persons with more severe levels of MR and persons with more limited ADL process abilities demonstrated different response patterns across tasks and possibly items. The evidence of validity of the internal structure of the AMPS scales was also evaluated between persons with mild and moderate MR (#=178; #=170). Group specific ADL motor and ADL process skill item hierarchies were generated using many-faceted Rasch analyses and compared. The hierarchies of ADL motor and ADL process skill items remained stable across groups, indicating evidence of validity of the AMPS scales when used to evaluate persons with MR. The results also indicated that although participants with moderate MR demonstrated overall lower mean ADL motor and ADL process ability, they did perform some specific ADL motor and ADL process skills at a similar level as persons with mild MR. Finally, the utility of the AMPS ability measures for detecting change were examined in an intervention study including three female participants with moderate MR. The study was based on a single case design and evaluated the effectiveness of a structured occupational therapy intervention program. Improvements were found for the participants in relation to the implementation of the program, but the pattern of changes were different between the participants and across the dependent variables. ADL process ability was the only variable that improved across all participants. The results supported the ADL process abilities as sensitive measures for detecting changes in ADL ability of persons with MR. In conclusion, the results of these studies contribute to the evidence of validity of the AMPS ability measures and scales, specifically in relation to the evaluation of persons with MR. The finding that an OT program resulted in improved ADL process ability also suggest that the results of the AMPS can be used to plan as well as evaluate outcomes of OT practice. Further research is also suggested in order to improve validity evidence and utility of the AMPS when used with persons with MR.Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2003</p

Infinite majesty : disabled and athletic métis in David Foster Wallace’s tennis writing

As John Jeremiah Sullivan remarks in his introduction to String Theory, a collection of David Foster Wallace’s essays on tennis, tennis “may be [Wallace’s] most consistent theme at the surface level.” As once an elite junior professional himself, Wallace reflects on and writes from his own involvement in the sport, with the conditioning, strategy, and body-mind training that goes into it. In other essays of String Theory, Wallace reaches beyond his personal playing experience, observes professional tennis players with their incredible grace, and creates his own tennis playing students in Infinite Jest. Throughout these fictional and nonfictional accounts, he conceptualizes what such eminent athleticism entails. This paper will show that celebrated athleticism in Wallace’s work exhibits an embodimental métis, or an acute, crafty body-mind knowledge of its movement through space. Beyond only characterizing athletic movement, however, this paper argues that the same concept of métis extends to people with disabilities, including characters with disabilities in Infinite Jest. The same hyperawareness of corporeality, versatile methods of adjusting to oppositional contexts, and extraordinary complexity are shared by both groups. Using rhetorical scholarship on métis and disability theories of embodiment and social representation, this paper will draw parallels between the moving body-minds of athletic and disabled bodies and trace the implications of this analogy for Wallace’s work and disability studies.Englis

A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Stuart D. Lee, reviewed by Andrew Higgins

Book review of A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien (2014), edited by Stuart D. Le

A Case Study of Using Online Communities and Virtual Environment in Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as a Learning and Teaching Tool for Second Language Learners

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) create large virtual communities. Online gaming shows potential not just for entertaining, but also in education. This research investigates the use of commercial MMORPGs to support second language teaching. MMORPGs offer virtual safe spaces in which students can communicate by using their target second language with global players. Using a mix of ethnography and action research, this study explores the students’ experiences of language learning and performing while playing MMORPGs. The results show that the use of MMORPGs can facilitate language development by offering fun, informal, individualised and secure virtual spaces for students to practise their language with native and other second language speakers