Definition
Plain language
The obvious answer strangers independently gravitate toward when they must agree without communicating — like meeting at the most famous landmark at noon.
As stated in the literature
A focal solution in a coordination game that players converge on absent communication, due to salience; central to analyzing whether independent agents can spontaneously agree on a covert-communication scheme.
Also called: Schelling points, focal point
Why it matters: It matters because it reveals when independent agents can silently coordinate on the same choice, for good or for covert purposes.
For example, two strangers told to meet in New York with no way to talk might both show up at Grand Central at noon simply because it's the obvious choice.
Heard on the show
“The game theorist Thomas Schelling called those focal answers Schelling points.”Episode 184 — An AI Built an Undetectable Secret Channel, And Another AI Couldn't Find It