Play positive-sum games
I love sports, most of us do. So much that we use them as metaphors in our lives. We model our behavior, even our decision-making process, to them. Why? because they’re simple, fun, and inspiring (exactly what we want for ourselves, right?).
Getting your dream job feels like being drafted into your favorite team. Passing your finals is like avoiding relegation. Half of tech twitter is comparing themselves to Michael Jordan.
All of this is fine, even good, but here’s the thing about sports: they’re a zero-sum game. In these types of games, one team has to lose for the other to win (1–1 = 0).
You might be thinking, well Kev, yeah, that’s obvious that’s how life is. True if I get the girl, you don’t get the girl. If I’m Beyonce, you can’t be Beyonce.
But that is not always the case. In life, we can find plenty of positive-sum games: innovation, economic growth, or social justice. These are very important ‘games’, that can benefit everyone in society. But this also applies at an individual level.
This brings me to my main point.
Zero-sum games are inevitable, but we must find the positive-sum games in life because those are the ones worth playing. Working on yourself, like going to therapy, is a benefit to you and many others. Having healthy finances can be transformational for you and your family (especially if you adopt a giving lifestyle, checkout Overflow for that 👀).
Steven Pinker puts it great.
Once people are thrown together in an interaction, their choices don’t determine whether they are in a zero- or nonzero-sum game; the game is a part of the world they live in. But people, by neglecting some of the options on the table, may perceive that they are in a zero-sum game when in fact they are in a nonzero-sum game. Moreover, they can change the world to make their interaction nonzero-sum. For these reasons, when people become consciously aware of the game-theoretic structure of their interaction (that is, whether it is positive-, negative-, or zero-sum), they can make choices that bring them valuable outcomes — like safety, harmony, and prosperity — without their having to become more virtuous, noble, or pure.
WHAT SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT WOULD IMPROVE EVERYBODY’S COGNITIVE TOOLKIT?
The framework with which we see the world affects our own reality. Adopting this positive-sum mentality can radically improve your life. Start identifying these games, start playing them.
It's not easy. It takes time and effort, others might not be willing to play this way. But ultimately, and speaking from a personal perspective, the effect this idea has on your relationships, work, and politics is extremely beneficial to you and those interacting with you. Isn’t that worth a try?
Help others win.
