Anatol Rapoport

Anatol Rapoport, N-Person Game Theory: concepts and applications, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1970.

A strategy, by definition, involves foreseeing all the possible situations which may arise in the course of a game. Their number is, to be sure, super-astronomical in all but very trivial games. The 'rational player,' as he is defined in game theory, has unlimited memory capacity and unlimited skill of computation. Hence, by choosing a strategy before the game begins, he is already exhibiting as much flexibility as is possible under the rules of the game. For this reason, the 'rational player' gains nothing in flexibility by deferring decisions. [56]

In many non-constant-sum games both players can get more in some outcomes which are not equalibria than in others which are. In order to realize those outcomes which are better for both players, the two must choose their strategies jointly, and this requires some sort of agreement between the players. It stands to reason that if the players are rational, and if the situation allows the concluding of an agreement benefiting both players, it will be concluded. However, the coordinated strategies which benefit both players (in comparison with the uncoordinated ones) may be chosen in many ways, some choices favoring one player, some the other. The 'solution' of the game then involves the determination of a reasonable compromise. [65]