Ashby now invites us to consider a series of games, beginning as follows.
Requisite Variety
11/3. Play and outcome. Let us therefore forget all about regulation and simply suppose that we are watching two players, and
who are engaged in a game. We shall follow the fortunes of
who is attempting to score an a. The rules are as follows. They have before them Table 11/3/1, which can be seen by both:
must play first, by selecting a number, and thus a particular row.
knowing this number, then selects a Greek letter, and thus a particular column. The italic letter specified by the intersection of the row and column is the outcome. If it is an a,
wins; if not,
loses.
I’ll pause the play here and give readers a chance to contemplate strategies.
Reference
- Ashby, W.R. (1956), An Introduction to Cybernetics, Chapman and Hall, London, UK. Republished by Methuen and Company, London, UK, 1964. Online.
cc: Cybernetics • Ontolog Forum • Structural Modeling • Systems Science
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