When the first rush of trading has died down, introduce to the children the concept of a multi-agent optimal arrangement: an arrangement such that it's not possible to redistribute the jellychips in any way that leaves all of the children better off simultaneously.  Ask them if they think their current arrangement got there.

Now the kids have a concept of a social goal to aim for, a way in which they can be collectively winning at trade or performing subpar; and the arguments will become a bit more heated.

(Especially if you've sorted all the kids in the class to be boys with a certain sort of personality, because sometimes different children learn different things, and some of those things are best learn by similar children all together.)

It usually doesn't take long for one boy to start telling another that they need to make a trade, in order to get the classroom* into what they've figured as the optimal arrangement.

Of course the older kids immediately step in at this point, and remind everyone that, by the definition of multi-agent-optimality, you should never need to force somebody to trade in order to get to a jellychip arrangement that's better for everyone; the target state should be better for the person who's making the trade too.

(*)  Not actually a 'room' in the sense of being indoors; children need to be exposed to outdoor light levels in childhood in order to not grow up nearsighted.  The surface area required for children to spend most of their day outdoors is currently the limiting factor on the urban density of the Great City (called also Central City and Default).  This is one of the places where public will and private incentives are in conflict, since there's a pressure towards ever-greater urban density in the center; but if this were permitted, soon it would be mostly childless people who could afford to live in Civilization's dense center.  For that and other reasons, it's been decided that it's better to limit the Great City's density and keep Civilization more spread out.  To find a solid expanse of skyscrapers, you'd need to visit a major city with few or no children per capita, like Big Quiet, or Erotown.

When the first rush of trading has died down, introduce to the children the concept of a multi-agent optimal arrangement: an arrangement such that it's not possible to redistribute the jellychips in any way that leaves all of the children better off simultaneously.  Ask them if they think their current arrangement got there.

Now the kids have a concept of a social goal to aim for, a way in which they can be collectively winning at trade or performing subpar; and the arguments will become a bit more heated.

(Especially if you've sorted all the kids to have a certain sort of personality, and usually therefore all be boys, because sometimes different children learn different things, and some of those things are best learned by similar children all together.)

It usually doesn't take long for one boy to start telling another that they need to make a trade, in order to get the classroom* into what they've figured as the optimal arrangement.

Of course the older kids immediately step in at this point, and remind everyone that, by the definition of multi-agent-optimality, you should never need to force somebody to trade in order to get to a jellychip arrangement that's better for everyone; the target state should be better for the person who's making the trade too.

(*)  Not actually a 'room' in the sense of being indoors; children need to be exposed to outdoor light levels in childhood in order to not grow up nearsighted.  The surface area required for children to spend most of their day outdoors is currently the limiting factor on the urban density of the Great City (called also Central City and Default).  This is one of the places where public will and private incentives are in conflict, since there's a pressure towards ever-greater urban density in the center; but if this were permitted, soon it would be mostly childless people who could afford to live in Civilization's dense center.  For that and other reasons, it's been decided that it's better to limit the Great City's density and keep Civilization more spread out.  To find a solid expanse of skyscrapers, you'd need to visit a major city with few or no children per capita, like Big Quiet, or Erotown.

When the first rush of trading has died down, introduce to the children the concept of a multi-agent optimal arrangement: an arrangement such that it's not possible to redistribute the jellychips in any way that leaves all of the children better off simultaneously.  Ask them if they think their current arrangement got there.

Now the kids have a concept of a social goal to aim for, a way in which they can be collectively winning at trade or performing subpar; and the arguments will become a bit more heated.

(Especially if you've sorted all the kids to have a certain sort of personality, and usually therefore all be boys, because sometimes different children learn different things, and some of those things are best learned by similar children all together.)

It usually doesn't take long for one boy to start telling another that they need to make a trade, in order to get the classroom* into what they've figured as the optimal arrangement.

Of course the older kids immediately step in at this point, and remind everyone that, by the definition of multi-agent-optimality, you should never need to force somebody to trade in order to get to a jellychip arrangement that's better for everyone; the target state should be better for the person who's making the trade too.

(*)  Not actually a 'room' in the sense of being indoors; children need to be exposed to outdoor light levels in childhood in order to not grow up nearsighted.  The surface area required for children to spend enough of their day outdoors is currently the limiting factor on the urban density of the Great City (called also Central City and Default).  This is one of the places where public will and private incentives are in conflict, since there's a pressure towards ever-greater urban density in the center; but if this were permitted, soon it would be mostly childless people who could afford to live in Civilization's dense center.  For that and other reasons, it's been decided that it's better to limit the Great City's density and keep Civilization more spread out.  To find a solid expanse of skyscrapers, you'd need to visit a major city with few or no children per capita, like Big Quiet, or Erotown.

When the first rush of trading has died down, introduce to the children the concept of a multi-agent optimal arrangement: an arrangement such that it's not possible to redistribute the jellychips in any way that leaves all of the children better off simultaneously.  Ask them if they think their current arrangement got there.

Now the kids have a concept of a social goal to aim for, a way in which they can be collectively winning at trade or performing subpar; and the arguments will become a bit more heated.

(Especially if you've sorted all the kids to have a certain sort of personality, and usually therefore all be boys; because sometimes different children learn different things, and some of those things are best learned by similar children all together.)

It usually doesn't take long for one boy to start telling another that they need to make a trade, in order to get the classroom* into what they've figured as the optimal arrangement.

Of course the older kids immediately step in at this point, and remind everyone that, by the definition of multi-agent-optimality, you should never need to force somebody to trade in order to get to a jellychip arrangement that's better for everyone; the target state should be better for the person who's making the trade too.

(*)  Not actually a 'room' in the sense of being indoors; children need to be exposed to outdoor light levels in childhood in order to not grow up nearsighted.  The surface area required for children to spend enough of their day outdoors is currently the limiting factor on the urban density of the Great City (called also Central City and Default).  This is one of the places where public will and private incentives are in conflict, since there's a pressure towards ever-greater urban density in the center; but if this were permitted, soon it would be mostly childless people who could afford to live in Civilization's dense center.  For that and other reasons, it's been decided that it's better to limit the Great City's density and keep Civilization more spread out.  To find a solid expanse of skyscrapers, you'd need to visit a major city with few or no children per capita, like Big Quiet, or Erotown.