telltale: my take on what I watch on screen

Remember the scenes on the streets when India announced a nationwide lockdown in response to pandemic crisis. People rushed out to stock essentials fearing they may not be available later. And people bought more than they required resulting in stocks running out. This led to few people having more than they required and most having less or nothing. The optimal behaviour in such a situation would have been to stay calm and buy only what one needs. However, this works only if everyone in unison exhibits this same behaviour. Fear that some would opt to hoard leaving others stranded, leads to most people opting for a not so ideal solution to avoid regret. Changing the strategy from not hoarding and buying only what one need when they need, in absence of others following suit, will result in no additional gains. As defined in Game Theory, this is the Nash Equilibrium – a solution of a non-cooperative game where no player has anything to gain by changing only his/her own strategy....

Do people responsible for protection need protecting? Vigilantes or criminals wear a mask to hide their identity. They use masks for protection from the law as they do not have the legal authority to carry out their activities. So, does it make sense for people with legal authority to wear a mask? Why do they need protection? This paradox forms the crux of Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen universe streaming on Hotstar in India. This TV series is a sequel to the original 1987 DC Comic book series. Set in the same alternate universe, this is a world where the US has won the Vietnam War and is now their 51st state, Robert Redford (the American actor director) is the President and the Watergate scandal is never exposed. There are no mobile phones with people still using pagers. But there are inter dimensional portals and spaceships and satellites that travel across the galaxy. A white supremist group called the Seventh Kavalry, targets the police department in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This ...