Niki Harré - The Infinite Game: How to Live Well Together

The Infinite Game

How to live well together

Niki Harr

To my father, John Harr

Welcome to the infinite game. The infinite game is a game about our times, a game about how to live well together. Everyone is invited. We dont need you exactly, but whatever you offer will make the game a little better for the rest of us. With a bit of luck, youll get something out of it too.

Like any game, the infinite game works best if the players appear to take it seriously. This means that if you want to play, you are asked to concentrate, to try hard, and to act as if it matters. In the end, it does not matter. But if everyone pretends there is some goal, something worth striving towards, it will be a better game. So lets get started.

In 1986 the philosopher James P. Carse wrote that in life there are at least two kinds of games: finite games and the infinite game. He described these games in a book called Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility. Ive taken some key insights from his book, played with them a little (or a lot), and added some contributions of my own. The characteristics of these games are laid out as a list of fifteen paired features on the following page.

1. The purpose of the infinite game is to continue the play The purpose of a finite game is to win

2. The infinite game is played with that which we value for its own sake Finite games are played with the values relevant to the game

3. The infinite game includes finite games Finite games may exist outside the infinite game

4. The infinite game invites others in Finite games include only select people

5. Infinite players relate to the humanity in each other In finite games others are allies, pawns, spectators or competitors

6. The infinite game values open-ended expression Finite games value expression only within the mediums and rules set by the game

7. The infinite game may provide a deep sense of connection with others In finite games victory may be joyful but must be guarded

8. Infinite players may come and go Finite players must be alert to relax is dangerous

9. The infinite game is an open network in which everything is interconnected Finite games are discrete entities that may expand or replicate

10. The infinite game tends towards diversity Finite games tend towards sameness

11. Infinite players are in awe of life in all its forms Finite players attempt to control the life forms relevant to the game

12. The infinite game seeks and responds to information about the world Winners of finite games claim knowledge of the world which may be treated as the truth

13. Infinite players attempt to understand themselves Finite players attempt to train themselves

14. The infinite game looks to the future and does not assume the past will reoccur In finite games players try to replicate the winning strategies of the past

15. The rules of the infinite game must change over time or the game will cease To change or break the rules of a finite game is a violation

Are you starting to get the idea? The features of the infinite game and finite games will be teased out more fully in Part One of this book. For now, to help understand the difference between these two types of games, lets imagine beach cricket as the infinite game and compare it with a finite game of international cricket. In beach cricket, someone has a tennis ball and ideally a bat of some sort, although a piece of drift-wood will do. Teams are created from whoever is willing; everyone on the beach is invited to play. Age, prior experience with the game, fitness, being able to speak the language of the instigators, none of these are prerequisites to or protections from being encouraged to have a go: Well teach you itll be fun! The rules are set, but most people cant quite remember them and make lots of mistakes. When its a four-year-old boys turn to hold the bat, the rules are changed completely: he doesnt actually have to hit the ball to run, and no one tries to get him out.

Experienced players are often theatrical, exaggerating or slowing down their movements to the laughter and spontaneous applause of others. Experienced players may also focus intensely when up against each other, trying hard to make as many runs as possible or get the opposing player out. The most valued player is not, however, the best cricketer, but the one who has the knack of making everyone feel welcome. He calls for breaks in the play to show those who are uncertain how to hold the bat and run with it to the opposing wicket. She senses when to cajole a shy player into running into the sea after the ball and when to back off and let the player leave the action to others.

People leave the game for a while, switch teams to keep the numbers more or less even, and none of this matters. It doesnt even matter when a teenager misses a great catch because she is watching a surfer catch a wave, although everyone groans loudly. The truth is, everyone is somewhat distracted by the blue of the ocean, the crunch of the sand, and the oystercatchers attempts to crack open shellfish with their long orange beaks.

As a player, you experience moments of deep contentment, wrapped in a warm blanket of goodwill. It is as if you are in a time apart from time, a space apart from space, where no one has anything better to do than simply be together. Perhaps you feel an absurd love for this odd collection of people, whose lives you may know little or nothing about.

International cricket is rather different. For starters, the teams are carefully selected. Have you ever been selected to play cricket for your country? I suspected not. And it would be ridiculous for players to switch sides or to change the rules part way through the game. How would we know which team won? Players must focus completely on the game and all are needed. Missing a great catch because you are texting your girlfriend in the stand is out of the question. And the setting, apart from the cheers and boos of the spectators, is largely irrelevant. The grass on which the game is played has been carefully cut to the right length and the pitch protected overnight to ensure it does not become sticky from unwanted rain or dew. Victory, when it comes, is euphoric for the winners and dismal for the losers. No matter how small the winning margin, the difference between the two outcomes is absolute. The post-game ritual requires the losers to concede defeat and the audience to praise the winners, usually by detailed public discussion of the brilliant plays that led to their triumph.

International cricketers learn their sport by studying the winning strategies of the past. They acquire a coach and train their bodies and minds to be the perfect cricket clone, just fractionally better than what has gone before. In fact, if I was to line up elite sportspeople in front of you and get you to guess their sport rugby, swimming, gymnastics, middle-distance running you would probably do very well indeed just by looking at their body shapes.