# 49. Manipulation of bias and heuristics in decision making ## 49.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 49.5.73. Zero-sum heuristic This is intuitively judging a situation to be zero-sum (i.e. that gains and losses are correlated). The name derives from the zero-sum game in the game theory, where wins and losses sum to zero. The manipulator uses this tendency to persuade a victim to act (or not act) in a certain way, because, after all, alternative actions will be a case of "swings and roundabouts" - a zero-sum outcome, anyway.