Nicholas Rush Smith, Director of the Master’s Program in International Affairs at The City College of New York, discusses the power of luck in shaping our lives. He explores how play-based learning can revolutionize education, especially in political science and international relations. The conversation highlights the role of simulations in understanding complex systems, the crucial lessons learned through losing, and how dopamine enhances the learning experience. Smith also tackles how educational methods must adapt to address global challenges like climate change.
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Nick's Losing Game
Nicholas Rush-Smith played the chairman of GM China in Lux Capital's "Powering Up" game.
He invested heavily in China early on, miscalculating win conditions and falling behind.
insights INSIGHT
Path Dependency and US Automakers
Path dependency in economic simulations can hinder comebacks once a player falls behind.
U.S. automakers face challenges due to differing consumer preferences and advanced Chinese EV technology.
insights INSIGHT
Games Reflect Market Opacity
Games can't predict every variable, mirroring the inherent opacity of real-world markets.
Opaque scoring systems in games simulate the uncertainty business leaders face.
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The Sleepwalkers is a comprehensive and meticulously researched book that explores the intricate events and relationships that led to the outbreak of World War I. Clark's narrative delves into the decades of history preceding 1914, examining the mutual misunderstandings, unintended signals, and complex alliances that drove Europe into war. The book highlights the fraught situation in the Balkans, the role of key players such as Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, and France, and the broader geopolitical context that contributed to the war. Clark's analysis is insightful, drawing together politics, alliances, personalities, geography, fear, and false hopes to provide a detailed and authoritative chronicle of Europe’s descent into war.
A Theory of Fun
A Theory of Fun
Raf Koster
Playing with Reality, How Games Have Shaped Our World
Kelly Clancy
Utopia of Rules
David Graeber
Cruel, petty and occasionally magnanimous, fates rule our lives, determining everything from our careers and romances to our financial success. Despite a burgeoning academic literature studying luck and the occasional theoretical probabilist complaining about Bayesian statistics, we haven’t brought the chance of chaotic complex systems into the classroom, and that’s particularly true in political science and international relations. That should change, and play-based learning offer new forms of education for future generations.
Joining host Danny Crichton and Riskgaming director of programming Laurence Pevsner is Nicholas Rush Smith, director of the Master’s Program in International Affairs at The City College of New York and its Graduate Center. His students graduate into plum assignments across international organizations like the United Nations, and he has been increasingly utilizing simulations and experiential learning to transform how future international civil servants learn their craft.
We talk about Nick’s recent experience playing “Powering Up,” our Riskgaming scenario focused on China’s electric vehicle market. Then we talk about the power of play, how dopamine affects the learning cycle, why losing is the best education for winning, David Graeber’s ideas around the balance between rules and play, and finally, how play-based learning can teach principles used in even the most bureaucratic institutions like the United Nations and the U.S. Army.
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