Day to Day Game Theory

Have you every stopped at an intersection at the same time as another and then you had to coordinate which of you would move first?

I plan my trip to the work room so that I know the copier will be available and I won't have to talk to students along the way.

I try to avoid the grocery store when the store is the busiest.  I slow down when I approach a stop light with a camera enforced system.

It seems that much of my daily life revolves around the strategic interaction of individuals competing for scare resources or seeking to maximize their utility.  Some of my interaction is game theory.  Recently, I  decided to take a class in game theory.  I chose iTunesU and an open class from Professor Ben Polak.  The class is simply brilliant.  You can find a link to it here.

I have just spent the last two weeks working on Bertrand and Cournot theory.  The theory has consume much of my time exposing many weaknesses in my algebra and economics theory.  This was my fear when I started the class.  When I started the class, my thinking went something like, "Should I enter" or "Should I stay out" of the class?  I was already acting strategically so I might as well learn how to behave.