In their new book, Hidden Games, MIT economists Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli find a surprising middle ground between the hyperrationality of classical economics and the hyper-irrationality of behavioural economics. They call it hidden games. Join us as they talk about this new publication.

Reviving game theory, Hoffman and Yoeli use it to explain our most puzzling behaviour, from the mechanics of Stockholm syndrome and internalised misogyny to why we help strangers and have a sense of fairness. Fun and powerfully insightful, Hidden Games is an eye-opening argument for using game theory to explain all the irrational things we think, feel, and do and will change how you think forever.

Meet our speakers and chair

Moshe Hoffman (@Moshe_Hoffman) is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab Human Dynamics Group and lecturer at Harvard's Department of Economics. His research focuses on using game theory to decipher the motives that shape our behaviour.

Erez Yoeli (@erezyoeli) is a research associate at MIT's Sloan School of Management. Yoeli collaborates with governments, non-profits, and companies to apply the lessons of his research into altruism towards addressing real-world challenges.

Nichola Raihani (@nicholaraihani) is PI of the Social Evolution and Behaviour Lab. She is Professor in Evolution and Behaviour, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. She is also author of The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World (2021).

Michael Muthukrishna (@mmuthukrishna) is Associate Professor of Economic Psychology at LSE. He is also Affiliate of the Developmental Economics Group at STICERD, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in the Boundaries, Membership and Belonging programme at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and Technical Director of The Database of Religious History. 

More about this event

The Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science (@LSE_PBS) is a growing community of researchers, intellectuals, and students who investigate the human mind and behaviour in a societal context. Our department conducts cutting-edge psychological and behavioural research that is both based in and applied to the real world.

You can order the book Hidden Games: The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behaviour (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEHiddenGames

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Hidden Games: how game theory explains irrational behaviour.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.