Schelling himself [[illustrated]] this [[concept]] with the following [[problem]]: Tomorrow you have to meet a stranger in [[New York City|NYC]]. Where and when do you meet them? This is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordination_game Coordination game], where any place in [[time]] in the city could be an [[equilibrium]] solution. Schelling asked a [[group]] of students this question, and found the most common answer was "noon at (the [[information]] booth at) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Station Grand Central Station]." There is nothing that makes "Grand Central Station" a location with a higher payoff (you could just as easily meet someone at a bar, or the [[public]] [[library]] reading room), but its [[tradition]] as a meeting place raises its salience, and therefore makes it a natural "'''focal point'''." | Schelling himself [[illustrated]] this [[concept]] with the following [[problem]]: Tomorrow you have to meet a stranger in [[New York City|NYC]]. Where and when do you meet them? This is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordination_game Coordination game], where any place in [[time]] in the city could be an [[equilibrium]] solution. Schelling asked a [[group]] of students this question, and found the most common answer was "noon at (the [[information]] booth at) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Station Grand Central Station]." There is nothing that makes "Grand Central Station" a location with a higher payoff (you could just as easily meet someone at a bar, or the [[public]] [[library]] reading room), but its [[tradition]] as a meeting place raises its salience, and therefore makes it a natural "'''focal point'''." |