While reaping the benefits of technology, the effects of environmental damage are minimised by using laws, social norms and international agreements.In this we are inspired by Nash equilibrium in game theory. It is named after John Nash, a mathematician and economist. In game theory, a Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies that, once discovered by a set of players, provides a stable fixed point at which no one has an incentive to depart from their current strategy.
Such an equilibrium is reached when the players understand the consequences of their own and others potential actions. For instance, in cold war, peace among nuclear powers depended on the understanding that any attack would ensure everyone’s destruction.
However, of late technology has evolved so rapidly that it is difficult to understand the consequences of any new action. Below a certain level of complexity the Nash equilibrium is useful in describing the likely outcomes. Beyond that, there is chaotic zone where players never find stable and reliable strategies. Then they cope with it by shifting their behaviours in irregular way. The outcome is random and unpredictable.
The emerging technologies in computing, software and biotech such as gene editing are unstable, evolve faster than regulatory frameworks. We may be approaching a profound moment when the guiding idea of strategic equilibrium will run up against its limits.