Backward Induction

Most people plan a trip or a story or a meal or virtually anything by starting at the beginning.

Not so with backward induction. Backward induction is derived from game theory. It starts at the end result and works backwards to determine the best moves.

Illustrative of this process would be the following: end result is a cherry pie, the pie has to be baked at 425 degrees for 40 minutes, the oven has to be preheated at 425 degrees, the lattice work for the top of the pie goes on last, cherry filling is put into the pie, the bottom crust is put into a pie pan, dough is put into the pie pan, dough is rolled out, filling is prepared, ingredients are purchased, hmm...cherry pie sounds good.

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