Overview
1) Ms. j holds the following preferences over outcomes w, x, y, and z: xIy, xPz, xPw, yPz, yPw, and wIz. (Remember that "I" indicates indifference.) Do Ms. j's preferences satisfy transitivity? Explain why or why not.
2) For each of the following situations, identify whether the actors faced certainty, risk, or uncertainty about the outcome of their action.
a) Watch the following video link below from the 1978 film, The Deer Hunter. Consider the situations faced by Nick Chevotarevich. (played by Christopher Walken) at 1:20 and Mike Vronsky (played by Robert DeNiro) at 2:14. (You may want to stop the video before 3:30.) Did they face certainty, risk, or uncertainty? Explain your answer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytg80HJWLlY&feature=youtu.be
b) Let's change a couple of details in the scene. Let's say that Nick and Mike have seen five rounds loaded into the six-shot revolver before the cylinder is spun. Nick places the gun at his temple, pulls the trigger, and it clicks on an empty chamber. Nick hands the gun to Mike without spinning the cylinder. Does Mike now face a situation of certainty, risk, or uncertainty? Explain your answer.
c) Let's go to an earlier scene in the film, where their Viet Cong captors force the two to play Russian roulette. But let's again make a change. Unlike in the film, in our version Nick and Mike are not allowed to see how many rounds are loaded into the revolver before it is handed to them. Do they face a situation of certainty, risk, or uncertainty? Explain your answer.