The reality around us constantly demonstrates physical and social
processes in which the interests of the participants are not
diametrically opposed, though they by no means always coincide. The
study of such processes (interesting in itw own right) is essential for
working out ways of making decisions, that is, for choosing among
available parameters of the processes. If, in view of certain
considerations, a participant i h 1 f 0 h' . b c ooses a va ue Xi 0 a
parameter Xi' s act on can e formally described as an attempt to
maximize the function f. = -llx. - x ll. For this reason any decision on
the part of the i-th participant in the process can be treated (at least
a posteriori) as agoal-directed act, aimed at increasing the value of
some function w. (a criterion of efficiency, a payoff, a gain, etc.),
wfiich generally depends on the choices of all n participants in the
process. That is w = f. (x ' ..-, x ), i = 1, 2, ..-, n. 1 i n A process
described in this manner, involving several participants, each pursuing
different interests and constrained in his choices of parameters by the
condition X E x. is called a game - a term firmly entrenched though
evide tly not felicitous.