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The Evolutionarily Stable Strategy when playing this game is a probability density of random persistence times which cannot be predicted by the opponent in any particular contest. This result has led to the prediction that threat displays ought not to evolve, and to the conclusion (e.g. in the The Illuminatus! Trilogy ) that optimal military strategy is to behave in a completely unpredictable (ie insane) manner. Neither of these conclusions are truly reasonable applications of the model to realistic conditions.


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REFERENCES

  • Bishop, D.T. & Cannings, C. (1978) A generalized war of attrition. ''Journal of Theoretical Biology'' 70: 85-124.

  • Bishop, D.T., Cannings, C. & Maynard Smith, J. (1978) The war of attrition with random rewards. ''Journal of Theoretical Biology'' 74:377-389.

  • Maynard Smith, J. (1974) Theory of games and the evolution of animal contests. ''Journal of Theoretical Biology'' 47: 209-221.

  • Maynard Smith, J. & Parker, G. A. (1976). The logic of asymmetric contests. ''Animal Behaviour''. 24:159-175.