Finite and Infinite games

With the World cup of the biggest worldwide sport well underway–even as at the same time we wonder why there is so much competitive conflict in society in a season where “peace on earth goodwill to humankind” is also on our minds — I’d like to share with you another way of looking at things I have picked up recently along the way of life. It is having a similar shifting effect on my thinking to the “bounded set/centered set” thinking I wrote about earlier. You might also pick up on connections to Adaptive/Technical approaches.

Football ball with flags of world countries in the net of goal of football stadium. World cup championship 2022. 3d illustration

It is referred to as learning to distinguish between approaching activities as a Finite Game or as part of the Infinite Game. Dr James Carse first began to realize this when part of discussions with other academics about Game Theory. He noticed they worked with the presumption that only the rules of Finite Games applied. He could think of numerous situations where they didn’t. No one was talking about Games happening just for the enjoyment of playing games.

Here is wikipedia’s summary quote from Dr Carse, who seems to be the one who came up with this distinction in the 1980s.

“There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play. Finite games are those instrumental activities – from sports to politics to wars – in which the participants obey rules, recognize boundaries and announce winners and losers. The infinite game – there is only one – includes any authentic interaction, from touching to culture, that changes rules, plays with boundaries and exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game. A finite player seeks power; the infinite one displays self-sufficient strength. Finite games are theatrical, necessitating an audience; infinite ones are dramatic, involving participants…”

Carse, James P. (1987). Finite and Infinite Games

All sports and most table games are Finite Games, because they fit the defining statements of : known set of players, have fixed – preset rules, have an agreed objective, and reach a moment where a winners and losers are declared.

The Infinite game’s defining statements are: known and unknown players (anyone can enter the game at any time), the rules can change (because circumstances change), and the objective is to keep the game going. Carse saw only one Infinite Game. Others say there is more than one, but I tend to see it Carse’s way.

Marriage (and I tend to think this is true of all relationships) is part of infinite gaming. If you act in marriage so as to declare yourself the winner (a finite game objective) at the end of every day, eventually you will not be continuing in the game. You will be a winner, in your own mind, maybe, but you will no longer be married or in good relationship.

Business is part of an infinite game. You might start a microbrewery in Lethbridge, or open a store, but you can’t declare yourself a winner, especially if 3 more just like it open up. That changes the rules, and you need to change the way you operate. Business can drop out of the Infinite game, but no one is ever the “winner.”

You can’t win in the finite game sense at Education. You can’t win at pastoring. At parenting, etc. These are part of the Infinite game.

This all got me remembering long drives with our car full of fun loving and creative offspring. This was before electronic diversions were available in the vehicle, or before we could afford them. They would make up a game, and they would keep adapting it and adding to it, and there was no winner or loser, there was just the next creative idea someone added to the game. One of these activities was where they would create a story on the fly. Someone would start with “Once there was a rabbit” and the next would say “and his name was Harey.” They would keep themselves not thinking about whether we were there yet for hours on end! They were playing from an infinite perspective, just for the fun of the game.

To approach everything in life as if it is a Finite Game (the short game) which you have to win – in other words not knowing when to be aware you are playing the Infinite Game, the long game, has serious costs. (note: no one whose thoughts I have read about this uses short and long game, but I find it helpful for understanding this.)

As I learn to understand this more, I might write about it more as well. I think it has implications for church. Did any of you catch how this could be related to Technical change and Adaptive Change? That is one thought-stream I have going…

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_and_Infinite_Games

If you are further interested here link to a conversation by Simon Sinek (who seems to be the main person trying to interpret Carse’s ideas for those outside academia. In the recording he talks to Dr James Carse about his idea: