Interminable game: Difference between revisions

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{{a|design|}}Call this the {{author|James P. Carse}} fan fiction, or the expanded universe.  
{{a|design|}}Call this the {{author|James P. Carse}} [[fan fiction]], or the expanded universe.  


Carse introduced the world to his conception of “[[Finite game|finite games]]” — fixed rules, boundaries, duration and an agreed zero-sum objective of victory — and “[[Infinite game|infinite games]]” — no fixed rules, boundaries, duration, or objective other than keeping going. Boxing on one hand, community building on the other.
Carse introduced the world to his conception of “[[Finite game|finite games]]” — fixed rules, boundaries, duration and an agreed zero-sum objective of victory — and “[[Infinite game|infinite games]]” — no fixed rules, boundaries, duration, or objective other than keeping going. Boxing on one hand, community building on the other.
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Of course, to use finite tactics in what could be a collaborative environment betrays a lack of perspective, a failure of imagination, and an obsession with what has gone before at the expense of what might yet be. So it should be no wonder that '' that’s what most people do most of the time''.
Of course, to use finite tactics in what could be a collaborative environment betrays a lack of perspective, a failure of imagination, and an obsession with what has gone before at the expense of what might yet be. So it should be no wonder that '' that’s what most people do most of the time''.
[[Interminable games]] are ''destructive'' where infinite ones are ''constructive''. Instead of seeking to imagine new worlds and open up undreamt-of possibilities, in an [[interminable game]], each side seeks to shut the other one’s existing world down. These games are mainly harmless — just [[tiresome]], and pointless — because neither side will persuade each other of anything, much less ''win''.
Does God exist? Is Socialism good? Is Capitalism bad? Are permissionless [[blockchain]]s the future? Will string theory explain life, the universe and everything? Whither [[critical theory|social justice]]? Is [[Brexit]] a success? These are interminable games.
Like ''finite'' games, they appear to be contests “to the death”. Yet, like ''infinite'' games, they ''must not be finally resolved''. The goal is, always, to ''avoid'' final victory and carry on the fight because, if you win, you must pack up your banners, disband your army and go home. And who, having assembled a power structure, does that?
Thus, should outright victory impend, putative victors will scramble to change their own terms of reference to ensure they still have something else to fight about.
This can work because, the rules of engagement are not fixed, or even agreed: each side is playing to its own rules, with total disregard for the other’s, and will change its premises should it appear to be on the brink of victory or defeat.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ What happens when people miss the point.
|+ What happens when people miss the point.
|-
|-
! Game Type !! Player 1 Tactics !! Player 2 Tactics !! Outcome
! Game Type !! Player Tactics !! Outcome
|-
|-
| {{bg|pink}}'''Finite''' || {{bg|pink}}Finite || {{bg|pink}}Finite || {{bg|green}}Magnificent gladiatorial contest. Someone loses, but honour is kept, stories are told, legends forged etc.
| '''Finite''' || {{bg|green}}Both finite  || {{bg|green}}Magnificent gladiatorial contest. Someone wins, someone loses, but honour is kept, lessons learned, stories are told, legends forged etc.
|-
|-
| {{bg|green}}'''Infinite''' || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|green}} Imaginative world-building. Collaboration. Hacky-sack, man!  
| '''Infinite''' || {{bg|green}}Both infinite || {{bg|green}} Imaginative world-building. Collaboration. Hacky-sack, man!  
|-
|-
| {{bg|pink}}'''Finite''' || {{bg|pink}}Finite || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|pink}}Player 2 picks up ball and runs with it (therefore gets sent off) or sits in a corner playing with daisies (therefore gets walloped.
| '''Finite''' || {{bg|pink}}One finite, one infinite || {{bg|pink}}Infinite player picks up ball and runs with it (therefore gets sent off) or sits in a corner playing with daisies (therefore gets walloped). Finite player wins, but unsatisfyingly, by default, because the other player refused to play “properly”.
|-
|-
| {{bg|green}}'''Infinite''' || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|pink}}Finite ||{{bg|pink}} Player 2 Gets bogged down and gives up.  
| '''Infinite''' || {{bg|pink}}One finite, one infinite ||{{bg|pink}} Finite player gets bogged down and gives up. Infinite player finds someone else to play with (hopefully an infinite player).
|-
|-
| {{bg|pink}}'''Finite''' || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|green}}Infinite || {{bg|Yellow }}Players abandon game and do something else (like playing an [[infinite game]])
| '''Finite''' || {{bg|yellow}}Both infinite || {{bg|Yellow}}Players abandon game, which was rubbish anyway, and do something else (like playing an [[infinite game]])
|-
|-
| {{bg|green}}'''Infinite''' || {{bg|pink}}Finite || {{bg|pink}}Finite || {{bg|pink}}[[Interminable game]] <== This is what happens most of the time.
| '''Infinite''' || {{bg|pink}}Both finite || {{bg|pink}}[[Interminable game]] <== This is what happens most of the time. Players argue past each other, playing to their own respective galleries, achieving nothing.
|}
|}
{{sa}}
*{{br|Finite and Infinite Games}}
*[[Game theory]]
{{c|Futurism}}