Playing the Gender Pronoun Game 13
can have different information. Thus, the bidder with less wealth may have a better evaluation of the item being auctioned off than the wealthier bidder.
One last trait that deserves mention is skill, which is required both in figuring out what to do in a strategic encounter and in then executing a plan. Skill em- bodies many elements, including originality, cleverness, composure, and, as described by Winston Churchill, that “element of legerdemain, an original and sinister touch, which leaves the enemy puzzled as well as beaten.”4 How skillful are players presumed to be, and how much are they allowed to vary in their skill?
FIGURE 1.2 depicts a range of intellects drawn from fiction. Players aren’t presumed to be brilliant like James Bond or Albert Einstein, nor are they going to be in the “dumb and dumber” category like Curly or Mr. Bean. We’re not out to explain how the Three Stooges would behave when faced with a nu- clear standoff. We will presume that players have at least a modicum of good sense and guile and, overall, that they are intelligent.
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