Research Paper On The Emperor's New Cloths

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Extended essay – Mathematics The Emperor’s New Clothes and Game Theory Dulwich College 13MF2 Len Ma Abstract In this extended essay, I discussed and extended a problem solely from myself from one of the most famous fairy tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ by Mr. Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, though everyone knew the Emperor was wearing nothing including himself, they all chose to compliment on his excellent clothes until a little kid shouted out the truth. In order to understand why everyone maintained silent around the truth, I compared it with Prisoner’s Dilemma. Using the idea of Game Theory, I then worked out the possible outcome when people make …show more content…

Game theory is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers" . So, it would be fascinating to analyse people’s decision in the fairy tale using the concept of game theory. Game theory is about perfectly logical players interested only in wining . In the fairy tale, clearly everyone only cares about their own interests. The Emperor wants to keep his crown and have a long reign, while commoner tries to get away with unnecessary trouble. So, the requirement of perfectly logical players is fulfilled. What makes the fairy tale interesting is people’s decision, that they all told a lie and praised highly on the Emperor’s non-existing clothes though they all knew there’s nothing there. One primary factor is the social environment, the Emperor had a relatively strict and cruel reign, consequently, the cost of being punished would be higher and I will talk about it in detail later. However, the little kid who shouted out the truth might not be likely to considered as a perfectly logical player who only interested in winning, because of his age and education, he’s more an outside incident or incentive. I think this is the highlight or climax of the whole …show more content…

These two revolutions both succeeded with one vital factor, that the Bourgeoisie had greater power because of the cumulation of wealth. They stand a better chance to win the revolution or gain more political power if they choose not to compromise with the Emperor. Conclusion Therefore, by comparing the problem to Prisoner’s Dilemma, it is shown that the best strategy for commoner is to follow the others and staying silent is always the most secure strategy. Thus, when everyone starts to follow others, they all remain silent until an outside incentive occurred. However, during some revolution started by the Bourgeoisie, the payoff is no longer against them if they already have great power. As for the Bourgeoisie, they could lead the revolution because the commoners will listen to their voice and are just waiting for someone to say their complain

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