Shadowing Practice: 3 game theory tactics, explained - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Any time that you're interacting with another person who has their own interests and is trying to achieve their own ends, they are trying to do the best they can, given what they want.
2
You're trying to do the best you can, given what you want.
3
And so you're interacting in a strategic situation.
4
Game theory is a mathematical theory that attempts to make sense of how it is that people interact in these strategic situations.
5
John von Neumann wrote a very important book called The Theory of Games with a guy named Oscar Morgenstern.
6
And in there he laid out game theory.
7
Game theory is the study of decision making under conditions of uncertainty over time.
8
It was originally developed in economics in order to try and understand economic behavior, like why people buy certain things or why they're willing to work for certain wages.
9
But later on it was expanded and applied to a variety of different situations including biology,
10
international relations, and even interpersonal relations like friendship and parenting and family relations.
11
One of the things that game theory has really shown us through recent study has been interactions
12
that we oftentimes think as zero-sum or competitive are not as competitive as they seem.
13
In situations like in the Cold War, which most people thought, that's got to be a zero-sum game if anything is,
14
we discovered that actually there were opportunities for mutual cooperation.
15
Arms reduction treaties are a great example.
16
The U.S and the USSR figured out that if they could find a way to cooperate, they could both save an enormous amount of money and effort by reducing the number of weapons that they have.
17
Reagan and Gorbachev negotiated the START treaty with one another.
18
And one of the big problems that they had is, how can you be sure that while you're eliminating nuclear weapons, your adversary is also eliminating nuclear weapons?
19
So rather than saying, we're just going to get rid of some large percentage of our nuclear weapons
20
and hope that the USSR would do so as well, they broke up the interaction into a bunch of little tiny ones.
21
So the USSR would eliminate just a few nuclear weapons, then the US would eliminate just a few nuclear weapons.
22
They would check, and then they would go on to the next stage.
23
And then each would eliminate a few more, and they'd go on to the next stage.
24
This process of taking a big interaction
25
and breaking it down into little small parts can change a bad social dilemma into a positive interaction.
26
What I do in my personal life, and I think almost everyone can do in their personal life, is to try and think, in this interaction, what outcome would be good for both parties?
27
And how can we achieve that outcome?
28
And by thinking about everything in that way, we oftentimes transform something that seems like a situation where there has to be a winner
29
and there has to be a loser into one where nobody feels like they've lost and everybody benefits.
30
JOHN VAN NORMANN based game theory on a stripped-down version of poker.
31
In any given poker situation, you're dealing with a lot of uncertainty
32
and it's all about how to make the best decision in any given moment and that's so integral to life.
33
Everything we try to do, you know, should we take this route or that route, should I go here on vacation or there, it's all about dealing with uncertainties and probabilities of things happening
34
and poker is a very fun and easy way to teach someone how to do that.
35
First rule of thumb is how to extract the most money
36
or chips from your opponent when you have a strong hand
37
and how to lose the minimum when you have a weak hand.
38
You're never going to be 100% certain where you are, are you beating them or do you have a worse hand.
39
So you have to sort of construct a strategy that is mathematically optimal in each situation.
40
The most damaging bias that can come up in poker, and I also think very often in life, is the sunk cost fallacy.
41
Where you'll have a lot of chips, perhaps almost all of your stack is in the middle,
42
and yet you are 85 to 90 percent confident that you have the worst hand.
43
Putting another chip in the pot is probably not a good idea, but we'll often go to ourselves, Ah, well, I've gone this far, I've put this much in, I might as well see it through to the end.
44
But if you have very strong information that actually from this point onwards, putting more money in the pot is a bad idea, then you shouldn't.
45
But we have this belief that, well, I've put this much time in or this much effort, that we should continue on.
46
That can be very, very costly.
47
Once you start paying attention to the sunk cost fallacy, once it's on your radar, you'll probably notice at least a few things that you wish you were doing differently.
48
Those might be small scale.
49
In my case, I'm now much more willing to abandon a book
50
that I've realized I'm not enjoying and not getting any value out of,
51
rather than trudging dutifully through the remainder of the book just because I've already come 100 pages.
52
These changes might also be large scale.
53
For example, I was in a PhD program and at a certain point
54
realized with increasing certainty that I wasn't happy in this field and would probably be better off switching.
55
And that the only reason
56
that I had stuck with it as long as I had was
57
because of my fear of confronting the sunk cost of four to five years
58
that I'd spent preparing for and working in the PhD.
59
And sometimes it really does take time to fully acknowledge to yourself
60
that you don't have any good reason to stick with the job
61
or PhD or project that you've been working on so long because sunk costs are painful.
62
But at least having the sunk cost fallacy on your radar means
63
that you have the opportunity at least to push past that
64
and make the choice that instead will lead to the better outcomes for your future.
65
Game theory spent much of its early days analyzing zero-sum games where one party is going to win
66
and the other party is going to lose and trying to figure out what's the best strategy.
67
What game theorists have figured out is
68
that in zero-sum games the best strategy to pursue
69
when you're against a sophisticated opponent is to adopt the strategy which minimizes your maximum loss.
70
This is sometimes called the mini-max strategy.
71
So the idea is you think, what's the worst case scenario for me?
72
What could my opponent do that would make me worse off?
73
And then you figure out what's the best strategy against that.
74
So you're minimizing your maximum loss.
75
Game theorists prove that if you use this way of thinking, minimizing your maximum loss, you ensure that no matter how sophisticated your opponent is,
76
you've guarded against the worst case scenario.
77
And not only that, but in zero-sum games, you've done the best you can possibly do.
78
Get smarter, faster, with videos from the world's biggest thinkers.
79
To learn even more from the world's biggest thinkers, get BigThink Plus for your business.
📺 Same Channel
C157
What science can’t answer, according to physicist Jim Al-Khalili | Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
Why successful people set habits, not just goals | Wendy Wood
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
Hit peak performance with the power of habit | Wendy Wood
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C14
Your genes affect your education. Here’s why that’s controversial. | Kathryn Paige Harden
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
Cornel West: How Intellectuals Betrayed the Poor | Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
What if quantum physics could eradicate illness? | Jim Al-Khalili for Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
A mind-blowing explanation of symmetry | Frank Wilczek for Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
How evolution works, in 54 minutes | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview
B23
How do elite performers automate their habits? | Wendy Wood
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
Einstein’s beef with quantum physics, explained | Jim Al-Khalili for Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B21
Why softness beats stress | Giulia Enders
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
Who decides what is socially “normal”? | Christine Emba
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C129
How our expectations shape what we see, hear, and feel
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C120
Harvard negotiator explains how to argue | Dan Shapiro
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
Curiosity Is a Superpower — If You Have the Courage to Use It | Big Think
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C12
Physicist Brian Cox explains quantum physics in 22 minutes
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
How Einstein changed time forever | Jim Al-Khalili for Big Think
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C19
Keep your brain from declining after age 30
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C14
A neuroscientist’s guide to reclaiming your brain | Nicole Vignola
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
Expand your perception. Change your life. | Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
✨ Recommend Video
B21
60 sentences
Game Theory Scene | 21(2008) | Now Playing
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
406 sentences
#03 Strategic Types of Human Resources Management
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
30 sentences
The Art of War by Sun Tzu | Main Ideas
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
190 sentences
Trading Strategist: The Prop Firm Edge Isn't Your Strategy, It's How You Manage The Accounts!
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
582 sentences
You've (Likely) Been Playing The Game Of Life Wrong
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
155 sentences
How to be a creative thinker | Carnegie Mellon University Po-Shen Loh
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
16 sentences
The Best Solution to Video Game Addiction
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C14
116 sentences
3 philosophy classics that are better than self-help books
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
583 sentences
Game Theory #3: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1311 sentences
This game theory problem will change the way you see the world
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
50 sentences
International Trade Explained
IELTS PrepBusiness EnglishUniversity Students
What You'll Learn
This video isn't just about game theory—it's a goldmine for building strategic listening and clear communication skills! You'll practice following complex ideas (like "minimax strategy" or "sunk cost fallacy") and learn to break down long explanations into simple takeaways. Plus, you'll pick up how to discuss abstract concepts (think: "zero-sum games" or "mutual cooperation") with confidence—perfect for debates or work chats. And if you use a shadowing app, you can mirror the speaker's calm, conversational tone to sound more natural in English!
Listen For These Sounds
The speaker uses lots of connected speech that native speakers love. Notice how "what's the best" becomes "wuhz thuh best" (linking "what's" and "the") and "you're interacting" turns into "yur in-tuh-rak-ting" (reducing "you're" to "yur"). Also, listen for the soft "t" in "international" (in-tur-NA-shuh-nul) and how "opportunities" flows as "op-ur-TOO-ni-ties"—these small sounds make a big difference in sounding fluent. Shadow speech practice with these phrases will help you master these links fast!
Say It Like a Native
To mirror the speaker's rhythm, focus on stress: in "game theory tactics," stress "GAME" and "TAC-tics"; in "sunk cost fallacy," stress "SUNK" and "FAL-la-cy." The speaker pauses briefly before key terms (like "Arms reduction treaties" or "minimax strategy")—copy that pause to give your listener time to process. Use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare—you'll notice how matching the speaker's pace (not too fast, not too slow) makes your English sound more polished. With shadowspeaks practice, you'll be nailing these patterns in no time, and your pronunciation will improve dramatically!
Ready to level up? Grab a shadowing app, hit play, and start mirroring—you'll see progress in just a few sessions. Learn English with videos like this, and you'll not only get smarter about game theory but also sound like a more confident, natural English speaker!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has really shown · they've lost · I've gone |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was expanded · is sometimes called |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.