Though I am a scientist by training and profession, albeit now retired, I occasionally venture into realms of thought to which I have no official credentials, only those that I can claim as an interested participant, and in the present instance as a player in the game of life. Sociology being a "softer" science than the more rigorous math and physics of my own realm of expertise, I am, nevertheless, limited to using the tools at hand but in a more rigor-relaxed fashion. I will call it "phuzzy" physics (not to be confused with fuzzy logic).
In real life (i.e., macroscopic, 4-dimensional, and nonlinear) a zero-sum game is an idealization (except for trivial instances like a poker game involving only several players who by agreement do not allow cash-substitute IOU's) of a limited-sum game in which the departure from a theoretical limit of zero allows for fluctuations in number of participants and/or total currency units. Thus, for a very familiar example, the international investment markets operate as limited-sum games.
I further posit that virtually all competitive situations with a large-enough population and a concomitantly large-enough supply of currency operate as limited-sum games. This has something to do with the concept of simultaneity as formulated in the special theory of relativity by Albert Einstein in 1905! I make such a seemingly preposterous claim because I instinctively believe that instantaneity can be interpreted in much the same "not absolute" way as the relativity of simultaneity. What this means is that there is no perfection in the sense of an instantaneous change; a Heaviside step function can only be approximated in real life, and as a consequence the same is true for a zero-sum game. Cue the segue to the connection with the role of self-actualization.
Limited-sum games are much more subtle than their conceptually simpler zero-sum idealizations, thereby augmenting the always devious human instincts for gamesmanship among the participants. Evolution guarantees that in every sociological endeavor, intense, often subconscious, always devious competition will subsume every aspect of the human interactions. Altruistic behavior, though idealized as the element of interaction that differentiates humans from all other creatures, is rare if it even exists(?). So, at long last, a playa in the game of life must develop a strong sense of self-actualization to counterbalance the self-preserving deviousness of his competitors for limited resources.
In real life (i.e., macroscopic, 4-dimensional, and nonlinear) a zero-sum game is an idealization (except for trivial instances like a poker game involving only several players who by agreement do not allow cash-substitute IOU's) of a limited-sum game in which the departure from a theoretical limit of zero allows for fluctuations in number of participants and/or total currency units. Thus, for a very familiar example, the international investment markets operate as limited-sum games.
I further posit that virtually all competitive situations with a large-enough population and a concomitantly large-enough supply of currency operate as limited-sum games. This has something to do with the concept of simultaneity as formulated in the special theory of relativity by Albert Einstein in 1905! I make such a seemingly preposterous claim because I instinctively believe that instantaneity can be interpreted in much the same "not absolute" way as the relativity of simultaneity. What this means is that there is no perfection in the sense of an instantaneous change; a Heaviside step function can only be approximated in real life, and as a consequence the same is true for a zero-sum game. Cue the segue to the connection with the role of self-actualization.
Limited-sum games are much more subtle than their conceptually simpler zero-sum idealizations, thereby augmenting the always devious human instincts for gamesmanship among the participants. Evolution guarantees that in every sociological endeavor, intense, often subconscious, always devious competition will subsume every aspect of the human interactions. Altruistic behavior, though idealized as the element of interaction that differentiates humans from all other creatures, is rare if it even exists(?). So, at long last, a playa in the game of life must develop a strong sense of self-actualization to counterbalance the self-preserving deviousness of his competitors for limited resources.
I realize I'm going to come across as biased when I say...great post! (BTW, I am biased, but it's still a great post).
ReplyDeleteI'm going to put in a good word for altruism. I believe it exists, though it is so rare and fleeting that in the moment it's met, it must be protected and cherished.
Thanx, Babe. I'll trust your instincts concerning the existence of altruism.
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