Game Theory and Accomodation

One of the first challenges a budding INSEADer must face is securing themselves a roof over their head while they study. This involves a thought process which goes somewhat along the following lines:

1. I want to live somewhere nice
2. I want to live with some interesting people
3. I don't know where is nice
4. I don't know who the interesting people are

The result? I decided that seeing as the whole MBA thing is a bit of a gamble anyway, and hence choosing my prospective accomodation and housemates through the medium of the Internet does not significantly increase my overall risk exposure. Rather than spend precious time and money vising bazillions of houses in Fontainebleu, I thought I would just like the look of something on NetVestibule (INSEADs online community) and go for it.

With that decision taken, a waiting game ensues. You wait for interesting looking people to post interesting looking houses. But then you have a clock ticking. Leave it too late, and come August you may be on the street. The philosophical question of knowing when something is good enough (which seems to be a recurring theme for me) pops up here.

In choosing my house, I adopted Dirk Gently's (one of Douglas Adams' characters after he wrote the infamous Hitchiker's Guide) philosophy as to what to do when you are lost. His view is "When lost, follow someone who looks like they know where they are going. You most likely won't get to wherever it was you were trying to get to, but instead you're likely to end up somewhere you needed to be".

I patiently bid my time until a house came up on NetVestibule. A driven person who certainly seemed to give the impression of knowing where they are going described to me the stringent selection criteria which have been applied to the house, as well as its prospective cohabitants. It all sounded very driven, and quite reassuring, so I said "Heck, why not" on the spot.

With the house down, all that's left to do now is get a car, and then the rollercoaster is almost set up.