Reddit mentions of Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction (Dover Books on Mathematics)

>You are not ruining the economy by shopping there.

Well, yes, you are. Shopping at Wal-Mart is the same as defecting in the Prisoner's Dilemma problem, except with a gazillion players instead of two. By shopping there, you get some small gain for yourself at the expense of a net larger loss to the world at large (including you). It is pretty classic game theory.

Free markets in general are known to fail at that kind of choice: people tend to pick the path that yields personal short-term gain over collective benefit, even if the choice yields long-term ruin. In the case of environmental destruction, the costs are external to the system as a whole, and there are whole branches of economics discussing how to tweak the market to account for external costs of actions.

In the case of economic plundering (like Walmart engages in) the costs are internal to the eeconomy but are deferred and homogenized so that the cost to each individual isn't directly visible at the time of purchase -- one might call them "artificially externalized" costs.

Edit: I seem to be attracting a fair number of downvotes. I'll charitably assume they're not knee-jerk responses. Here are some some nice references: The Bully of Bentonville; Fishman's nice book on the Wal-Mart Effect; a nice documentary DVD; and Davis's fun pop-level introduction to game theory.

You are in a very special position right now where many interesing fields of mathematics are suddenly accessible to you. There are many directions you could head. If your experience is limited to calculus, some of these may look very strange indeed, and perhaps that is enticing. That was certainly the case for me.

Here are a few subject areas in which you may be interested. I'll link you to Dover books on the topics, which are always cheap and generally good.

• The Nature and Power of Mathematics, Donald M. Davis. This book seems to be a survey of some history of mathematics and various modern topics. Check out the table of contents to get an idea. You'll notice a few of the subjects in the list below. It seems like this would be a good buy if you want to taste a few different subjects to see what pleases your palate.
  
  
• Introduction to Graph Theory, Richard J. Trudeau. Check out the Wikipedia entry on graph theory and the one defining graphs to get an idea what the field is about and some history. The reviews on Amazon for this book lead me to believe it would be a perfect match for an interested high school student.
  
  
• Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction, Morton D. Davis. Game theory is a very interesting field with broad applications--check out the wiki. This book seems to be written at a level where you would find it very accessible. The actual field uses some heavy math but this seems to give a good introduction.
  
  
• An Introduction to Information Theory, John R. Pierce. This is a light-on-the-maths introduction to a relatively young field of mathematics/computer science which concerns itself with the problems of storing and communicating data. Check out the wiki for some background.
  
  
• Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability, Warren Weaver. This book seems to be a good introduction to probability and covers a lot of important ideas, especially in the later chapters. Seems to be a good match to a high school level.
  
  
• Elementary Number Theory, Underwood Dudley. Number theory is a rich field concerned with properties of numbers. Check out its Wikipedia entry. I own this book and am reading through it like a novel--I love it! The exposition is so clear and thorough you'd think you were sitting in a lecture with a great professor, and the exercises are incredible. The author asks questions in such a way that, after answering them, you can't help but generalize your answers to larger problems. This book really teaches you to think mathematically.
  
  
• A Book of Abstract Algebra, Charles C. Pinter. Abstract algebra formalizes and generalizes the basic rules you know about algebra: commutativity, associativity, inverses of numbers, the distributive law, etc. It turns out that considering these concepts from an abstract standpoint leads to complex structures with very interesting properties. The field is HUGE and seems to bleed into every other field of mathematics in one way or another, revealing its power. I also own this book and it is similarly awesome. The exposition sets you up to expect the definitions before they are given, so the material really does proceed naturally.
  
  
• Introduction to Analysis, Maxwell Rosenlicht. Analysis is essentially the foundations and expansion of calculus. It is an amazing subject which no math student should ignore. Its study generally requires a great deal of time and effort; some students would benefit more from a guided class than from self-study.
  
  
• Principles of Statistics, M. G. Bulmer. In a few words, statistics is the marriage between probability and analysis (calculus). The wiki article explains the context and interpretation of the subject but doesn't seem to give much information on what the math involved is like. This book seems like it would be best read after you are familiar with probability, say from Weaver's book linked above.
  
  
• I have to second sellphone's recommendation of Naive Set Theory by Paul Halmos. It's one of my favorite math books and gives an amazing introduction to the field. It's short and to the point--almost a haiku on the subject.
  
  
• Continued Fractions, A. Ya. Khinchin. Take a look at the wiki for continued fractions. The book is definitely terse at times but it is rewarding; Khinchin is a master of the subject. One review states that, "although the book is rich with insight and information, Khinchin stays one nautical mile ahead of the reader at all times." Another review recommends Carl D. Olds' book on the subject as a better introduction.
  
  Basically, don't limit yourself to the track you see before you. Explore and enjoy.

> Are there key ideas and considerations when working with particular game mechanics? Are there any critical questions I should be asking myself before the game starts? While its underway?

There is a whole field of study based around these questions. If you don't mind a little reading try looking into Game Theory.

game theory online course

non-poker non-technical game theory book

Obviously MoP and AoNLHE are better more relevant.

I disagree; I think there is a need to be a dick about it, because you wrote this:
>I feel like there’s a thread of Democrats who just don’t understand the Prisoner’s Dillema at all.

Not only does this comment carry a superior tone, it's also wrong. r/politics is full of amateurs--many of whom are teenagers--who think they're experts in law, politics, and economics. They all congratulate each other for "getting it" when there are people who actually study these things. It is the acme of ignorance.

Game theory is math-intensive, and there is probably no way around that once you get past the oversimplified models. But this book seems to give a reasonable explanation without being too rigorous [1]. I haven't read that one. But Fudenberg and Tirole's text on game theory is often considered the standard.

https://www.amazon.com/Game-Theory-Nontechnical-Introduction-Mathematics/dp/0486296725

Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction

I'm a Statistics student, so naturally, I love the idea of applying numbers and statistics to decision making. I find the book fascinating.

Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction might be a good place to get started.