吴金闪的工作和思考

见ADS博弈论的第一章第五节。顺便这本书推荐所有对博弈感兴趣的看一看。
Avinash_K._Dixit,_Susan_Skeath_Games_of_Strategy

D. Why Professors Are so Mean?
Many professors have inflexible rules not to give makeup exams and never to accept late submission of problem sets or term papers. Students think the professors must be really hardhearted to behave in this way. The true strategic reason is often exactly the opposite. Most professors are kindhearted and would like to give their students every reasonable break and accept any reasonable excuse.The trouble lies in judging what is reasonable. It is hard to distinguish between similar excuses and almost impossible to verify their truth. The professor knows that on each occasion he will end up by giving the student the benefit of the doubt. But the professor also knows that this is a slippery slope. As the students come to know that the professor is a soft touch, they will procrastinate more and produce ever-flimsier excuses. Deadlines will cease to mean anything, and examinations will become a chaotic mix of postponements and makeup tests.

Often the only way to avoid this slippery slope is to refuse to take even the first step down it. Refusal to acceptany excuses all is the only realistic alternative to accepting them all. By making an advance commitment to the “no excuses” strategy, the professor avoids the temptation to give in to all.

But how can a softhearted professor maintain such a hardhearted commitment? He must find some way to make a refusal firm and credible. The simplest way is to hide behind an administrative procedure or university-wide policy. “I
wish I could accept your excuse, but the university won’t let me” not only puts the professor in a nicer light, but removes the temptation by genuinely leaving him no choice in the matter. Of course, the rules may be made by the same collectivity of professors as hides behind them but, once made, no individual professor can unmake the rule in any particular instance.

If the university does not provide such a general shield, then the professor can try to make up commitment devices of his own. For example, he can make a clear and firm announcement of the policy at the beginning of the course. Any
time an individual student asks for an exception, he can invoke a fairness principle, saying,”If I do this for you, I would have to do it for everyone.” Or the professor can acquire a reputation for toughness by acting tough a few times. This may be an unpleasant thing for him to do and it may run againsthis true inclination, but it helps in the long run over his whole career. If a professor is believed to be tough, few students will try excuses him, so he will actually suffer less pain in denying them.

@wingsky，翻译一下。

把博弈论用来解释实际生活。很好的书。另外，我经常说我不在乎别人怎么理解，我不入地狱谁入地狱。其实，我一点也不想用强硬的手段。现在总得有个人要入地狱，那么就让他是我好了。如果系里讨论在现有的规则上修改细则而且把难以执行的部分也执行起来，那么就让我来做大家的对立面好了。

现在对你要求严格，监督你的研究进展，是为了你将来的成就。能理解我就理解，不能就以后慢慢理解，实在不能就发发牢骚，但还是要接受规则先。我对大家基本上一视同仁，包括万宝惠和张晶。我想你们慢慢会明白我为什么要对你们有这样的要求。

包括系里其它的事情也好，都可以不关我的事情。但是，如果有些事情确实必须推动，还要有人花很大的力起来推动，还要得罪人，那就让这个人是我好了。