Cyberpunk Now

The term information asymmetry is specifically applied to economics and represents the seller (or sometimes the buyer) having more information and, therefore, an advantage in a transaction. It’s an interesting extrapolation that relates to game theory and a bunch of cool stuff like that.

Interestingly, I think it applies in quite a few other situations. I’ve been reading quite a bit about China’s cyberwarfare planning (as explored in the paper “Like Adding Wings to the Tiger”) and asymmetric warfare (particularly guerrilla war in urban settings).

Similar concepts apply to chess as explored in the article, “Chess! What is it good for?” Interestingly, this article suggests tempo is the key to winning battles. Some theorists I’ve read say that adequate intelligence is necessary, such as being able to read an opponent at the individual level, in order to set and maintain the right tempo. In many cases, tempo depends on coordinating quite a few things at once, making for a very information-dense environment, so the ability to collect information and effectively filter it are key to maintaining that tempo.