Finite and Infinite Games

James P. Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility philosophically explores the premise of life as a series of games and infinite games.  Finite games have an end and rules may not change, whereas infinite games are never ending and the rules must change. Directly, think of Super Mario versus World of Warcraft.  With the Mario games, there’s a set of rules (stomp the mushrooms, fireball the goombas, save the princess, don’t die), but with Warcraft, there’s an entire world with a constantly changing set of rules and dynamics of play.

Understanding that, there are several other tenets:

• Finite players play within boundaries, infinite players play with boundaries
• Finite players are serious, infinite players are playful
• A finite player seeks to be powerful, an infinite player plays with strength
• A finite player consumes time, an infinite player generates time
• A finite player aims for eternal life, an infinite player aims for eternal birth

Zen koans aside, it’s interesting to distinguish that from a finite standpoint, resources are scarce and must be consumed, but with an endless, infinite perspective, resources are plentiful and can be created. Carse discusses resource issues briefly, however, he mainly applies logic to his thesis to different areas of life–learning (training vs. education), sex (body vs. spirit), family (choosing vs. having), stories (plot vs. themes).

Finite and Infinite Games is a good book for anyone looking for perspective, but it’s not an easy read in the sense that it’s tediously and brutally logical.  Perhaps that’s what’s needed to fully explain infinite concepts in a finite span of pages.