The JCI Prison Scholars Program

Tag: forbidden island

  • Another Game Theory Reflection

    We had an interesting session of Game Theory and Game Design yesterday, but I’ll let Josh tell you about it (if we had trouble getting dice in, I think the materials for Mr. Twist’s favorite game – Kiss the Girls – are going to be even more of an issue). In the meanwhile, here’s another short reflection piece from one of our students.

    S.T.M. writes:*

    When I first came into this “Game Theory” class, I didn’t understand the purpose of teaching such a class. My first impression was “What could they possibly teach a person about the theory of a game such as ‘Tic Tac Toe,’ ‘Checkers,’ or any of the everyday games that people play. Then I started listening to Prof. Levine and Prof. Miller explain the logic and calculation of such “Games of Chance.” Then I had an “AHA moment” and began to see how these “Theories” are actually used in the Judicial system and the Criminal Justice System. One of the theories, “Prisoner’s Dilemma,” is the exact theory they use in the Criminal Justice System to get 65%-75% rate for plea bargaining in most criminal cases. I began to see how even military leaders use these theories to determine “Collateral Damage” prior to reaching their possible objective. It was very interesting and enlightening. It’s amazing how some of the simplest things have such an extraordinary effect on the way things are run in the society or even the world.

    I have to say, the game “Go,” I still don’t see the logic and purpose for it. Maybe if there were some instructions**, but I just don’t get that game. But the game of “Forbidden Island,” this was not only interesting but it was fun. This game changed my whole attitude about competition in a game. It forced me to restrain my drive to be the “King of the Hill” and change it to a team or community mentality. This game helps remove the selfishness that is the center of our present society’s attitude to one of “Cooperation for Survival for All.” I could actually see a society change mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually if this principle was the moral and guiding principle. As much as I hate being punished and suffering for the actions of another person, when I look at the overall picture of this social principle it would be very beneficial to any culture of people who use it.

    Now that I have some insight into the theory of the game, I realized that the “Department of Corrections” is now using this theory as a form of discipline in its system. And it’s working. However, the laws of the “Jungle” still apply, the men of the jungle now apply the “Stop, Think, and Discuss method” before they respond. It has been beneficial for the environment, but they still have to be alert for abuse of power and those who have the authority must remember that it doesn’t take much to wake up the Monster if it’s pushed too far. Overall, I find this class very interesting and look forward to our new game “Diplomacy.”***

    ——-

    * As always, this is a transcription of the student’s writing – I’ve just fixed a couple minor grammatical and typographical issues.

    ** This refers to a problem we had with the Go sets. To get materials that are not books, papers, or other things that obviously belong in a classroom through security clearance, we’re often asked to order things from Amazon and have them shipped directly to the prison library rather than bringing them in ourselves. So, that’s what we did with the Go sets – but we didn’t realize that they showed up without any printed rules in them, and we didn’t think to check the sets for instructions before we sent the guys off to try playing during their “study hall” (we showed them the game and talked about its logic, but by drawing Go problems on the board, rather than with the sets). So, our bad. We did – when we realized this – go over the rules again and write them down with the guys, but it was still a source of understandable frustration.

    *** Sorry, Mr. Shakkir! I’m afraid Diplomacy undoes all the social lessons of Forbidden Island…

  • Reflections on Forbidden Island from one of our Games and Game Theory Students

    I’m still working on putting together my thoughts on Friday’s class and our chaotic game of Labyrinth Lord, but in the meanwhile, here are some thoughts from one of our students, L.B. (posted with his permission; I am transcribing this from his paper, so any typos are probably mine):

    It was very interesting from a sociological point of view when a group of us played Forbidden Island. Once the rules were explained, the confusion began. One man assumed a leadership role. He was directing the play of everyone else. In the beginning, the individual players permitted this guidance. However, the two men who explained the rules and refereed the play repeatedly intervened with their leadership, when questions arose or an air of confusion permeated the table.

    Finally, when the majority of players grasped the rules individuals assumed responsibility for their turn and the game proceeded rather smoothly. It was intriguing to see how well the men played when someone needed protection. The conversation took on an air of empathy for someone who could be taken off the board and everyone spoke on how best to save said player.

    Such cooperation was eventful in a prison atmosphere. The men shared a common thread of cooperation in order to win the game. Initially the man who assumed the leadership position easily surrendered his self-appointed role in favor of the group dynamic of mutually shared cooperation among all.

    It was with a shout of jubilation when everyone showed each individual player how to move toward the helicopter pad in order to fly off the island. The game was won and smiles and pats on the back were shared.

    I marveled at this game for the group dynamic that was quickly created and could see how much fun the group experienced. It would have been interesting to see how quickly such frivolity would evaporate into consternation if a player had assumed a role to sabotage play to lose the game. I can only surmise that the culprit would have been castigated with rude comments and other players would have been reluctant in the future to play with such a libertine.

    I would give Forbidden Island four out of five stars as a rating. I would have enjoyed playing this game as a child, as it would have helped to foster a cooperative approach to handling problems as they arose later in life instead of the me against the world approach that so many youth of my generation (Baby Boomers of the early 1950s) were taught in the games – win at any cost.