Playing It Right
Life is a game
When I first heard this statement it seemed too dubious to me.
It was a way too simple approach to defining life and like most, I didn't find simple, interesting.
After pondering over this idea of life as a game, I realized that the statement was true, but in some other way rather than the one in which most of us will take it to be.
From our childhood, we are taught to aim to become successful. Being successful is mostly defined as getting rich and holding positions of power.
But, how do you become successful?
The answer to this is :
You play the game of life and try to win at it.
Each and every one of us is trying to play this game to do well.
Most of us are experimenting and trying to pave our way.
But did anyone teach you how to play this game?
No!
And that’s where we fall into a trap.
A trap that leads to jealousy and misery.
“Men do not desire to be rich, but to be richer than other men.”
— John Stuart Mill
I am sure you must have felt that as well.
How should you escape the trap then?
I'm glad you realized that you are in a trap as well if you are asking the above-mentioned question.
If life is a game, we should be learning about games.
And surely, there must a mathematics basis on which games are based on.
Yes, and there comes — Game Theory.
What Is Game Theory?
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction among rational decision-makers ( definition from Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict by Roger B. Myerson)
In simple words, it a mathematical way of analyzing how games are played.
According to game theory, you have zero-sum games and non-zero-sum games.
What are Zero-sum games?
Most of the board games which you play at home are zero-sum games.
For example, in chess, for a player to win ( get a +1 score), the opponent will have to lose (get a -1 score). And that’s how the overall sum remains 0.
What are Non-zero-sum games?
These are scenarios where for a player to win ( get a +1 score), the opponent will not have to lose (get a -1 score), leading to a non-zero score.
An example of a non-zero-sum game is the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
How does this apply to my/your life?
Let’s continue further and talk about how this mathematical theory applies in your life.
Scenario 1: Playing life as a Zero-sum game
This is what most of us are trying to do.
It’s not your fault, it’s what society teaches us.
Our education system favors this approach.
Remember the times when people used to hide notes or tried to scare other students before exams so that they don’t do well? Or the times where you had to beat someone else to become a topper in your class?
For you to become the topper ( get a +1), someone else had to lose the status of being a topper (get -1) leading to an overall zero-sum.
That’s how we have been playing the game overall.
We try to get benefits from others but don’t want to reciprocate, rather want them not to do so well.
We subconsciously always try to keep the sum as 0.
We do this by playing the game of seeking status.
Playing for status is a zero sum game.
For someone to be at a place of higher status, someone else would have to step down.
This leads to jealousy which leads to misery as we always find ourselves trying to be on the top of the hierarchal status ladder.
What to do if not play non-zero-sum games?
Scenario 2: Playing life as a non-zero-sum game
We are programmed from our childhood that in order to become successful, you will have to step upon and crush someone else. But have you ever thought about why this has to be like this? Do we really need to do that?
Not really!
When you try to become successful, you are trying to get wealthy and..
Getting Wealthy is not a Zero-Sum Game
Wealth is a store of value and by wealth here, I mean knowledge and money.
The process of acquiring wealth doesn't have to be zero-sum as resources are infinite for an individual unit.
In easy words, you and all of your known ones can get wealthy and they won’t have to step on each other’s portions to achieve this.
Moreover,
Cooperation will help you get successful sooner than you realize.
You don’t have to make someone else fail to get ahead and succeed in life.
Take home message
We are quite brainwashed to play life as a zero-sum game scenario.
Something which you can take away from this article is a little tweak in your mindset.
A tweak to play by scenario 2.
Avoid the status game and play the non-zero-sum wealth game. Life does not have to be a zero-sum game.
Credits
This article is a result of reading, listening, and pondering over the ideas from Naval Ravikant. I am grateful that I get to learn from him and resonate with these ideas.