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Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by d0m on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @09:16PM (#2761334)
Wow, that explanation is so well done.. it's a pleasure to learn like this.
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by longlistener on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @06:35PM (#2760954)
Its interesting, and now that I understand the game it makes sense and is cool.

But it literally took me a few minutes to figure out why male 'C' liked woman 'b' better, and I kept thinking "what am I missing?". Its the order of the bubbles on the side, and as an educational game it would be useful to describe this

Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by wccrawford on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @04:57PM (#2760648)
That's amazing. I can't believe the algorithm was so simple!
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by john_horton on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @05:07PM (#2760685)
I was impressed by the simplicity as well. I think Gale & Shapley's intellectual contribution was not so much in proposing the algorithm, but in proving that a stable match is alway possible (and that this algorithm generates one such match).
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by pokoleo on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @07:11PM (#2761050)
This algorithm is also used in a certain University in Ontario's Co-op Job Board.
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by Kapelson on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @07:35PM (#2761116)
Ugh, don't remind me. Now THAT's a student-pessimistic system if I ever saw one.
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by gabaix on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @05:28PM (#2760769)
very good tutorial - any non technical developer can follow and is still covering very well the subject. Was it a student project?
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by socialist_coder on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @04:51PM (#2760622)
That algorithm seems super trivial. It's the only logical way to solve the problem, is it not?
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by gwern on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @05:31PM (#2760781)
Stuff often looks trivial - in retrospect. But it's not the only logical way, just a good way. It breaks down or does odd things in some cases (this is why the whole field of 'cooperative game theory' exists, because this sort of thing is not that easy).

For example, how would you divide up entropy, one of the most fundamental and scarce resources we possess? Shapley seems to work but there are some troubling parts: http://lesswrong.com/lw/12v/fair_division_of_blackhole_negen...

Does it work with all division problems, such as when agents can inspect each other's source code/rules? http://lesswrong.com/lw/13y/freaky_fairness/ and http://lesswrong.com/lw/3pv/freaky_unfairness/

Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by eru on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @08:05PM (#2761186)
Trivial correction: It's neg-entropy, not entropy.

And interestingly, in current computers entropy is the valued commodity, while neg-entropy doesn't cost extra.

Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by psykotic on Thursday July 14, 2011 @01:25AM (#2761864)
The algorithm was invented to match residents with hospitals. Before it was standardized in the 1950s, a far worse method had been widely used, so from that vantage point it cannot be entirely obvious. Often what makes a solution seem trivial in retrospect is that the problem has been whittled down to its crystalline essence and placed in its proper context. As Alan Kay likes to say, point of view is worth 80 IQ points.
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by lucian1900 on Thursday July 14, 2011 @08:35AM (#2762721)
Generally, when you understand something fully, it does seem trivial.
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by teyc on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @09:16PM (#2761332)
what happens if they realized they didn't really liked each other after marriage?
Re:Flash game illustrating the Gale-Shapley algorithm by teeray on Wednesday July 13, 2011 @09:42PM (#2761409)
paparazzi... and then they wind up on the next season of the bachelor/bachelorette...