(Finite) Game Over
I recently finished reading Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. It was a life-changing book. It confirmed some old ideas, gave new perspective on my previous life experiences and created a newfound sense of optimism for the future.
Prior to reading the book, I was already obsessed with the concept of gamifying life. Since 2017, I’ve routinely researched the concept via YouTube videos, podcasts and books. Among these, I previously read Introduction to Graph Theory by Trudeau, a short but mathematically dense book on graph theory. This small but mighty math book formally defined what a game is using 4 criteria:
Objects used to play the game have no purpose outside of the game.
A game has an opening arrangement.
Games have a clear goal.
There are rules of engagement.
When I first read this, I tried to apply these 4 math rules to life itself. The first two rules easily translate to the game of life: life has no purpose outside of living it and everyone begins life the exact same way, by being born. But I found myself struggling with the last two definitions of a game. Does life have a clear goal? Are there rules of engagement for how one should live life? Finite and Infinite Games finally answered my longstanding questions. I couldn’t make sense of the last 2 rules because they are the rules of a finite game, not an infinite one; life is an infinite game.
Kevin Hart alluded to this in his Joe Rogan interview, which I had also watched prior to reading Finite and Infinite Games.
The book itself is a philosophy book. It has small words yet big, big ideas. There were a few concepts about finite and infinite games that gave me a newfound perspective on old life experiences. I’ll explain.
Previous Life Experiences, Revisited
The longest finite game I’ve ever played lasted 22 years. Like many first-generation Americans, my entire life was defined by the pursuit of graduating from college and obtaining a good paying job. After reflecting on this era after reading Finite and Infinite Games, it is clear I was playing a finite game. Finite games are time-bounded, and have distinctly temporal limit. I was obsessed with “winning” this game within the allotted time, which was defined as achieving an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering within 4 years of beginning the degree program. After graduating, I couldn’t shake the feeling that making winning the sole purpose of my college experience was not a good idea. And now, I understand why. I was playing a finite game while being under the illusion that I was playing an infinite game.
In an infinite game, players play with boundaries, not within boundaries. This means that finite players are constantly trying to remove boundaries that prevent them from winning. In constrast, infinite players embrace boundaries as a part of play. Because boundaries are a part of infinite play, boundaries in an infinite game do not restrict play. I actually played with boundaries quite a bit in college, which created the illusion that I was playing an infinite game.
I did everything I could to leave electrical engineering within the boundaries of still being enrolled in the program. The incessant threat of poverty causes many children of Haitian immigrants to be pressured into studying STEM, and I was one of them. I initially did not want to be in STEM, and so I crafted ways to play with my boundaries. I interned at an investment bank for 2 of my college summers. Employment at an investment bank is not supposed to be part of the experience of majoring in electrical engineering. But I did it anyway!
I also wasn’t allowed to move away for college or live on campus. I saw this as another boundary to play with. I became a commuter assistant (CA) at NYU, the first one (with a co-CA) for the school of engineering. Being a CA prepared me to be an RA my senior year. Being an RA provided me with a dorm on campus, the ability to move out my childhood house and live on my own. These are things I was not supposed to have, as defined by the boundaries income and culture at home.
Playing with boundaries instead of within them is an element of infinite play. Because I brought these limitations within my realm of play, I believed that I was playing an infinite game. However, I was still playing a finite game. I was still doing all of this so that I can one day graduate, and thus, win. I viewed these experiences as transactional, as a means to win the game. There is a great danger in thinking your game is infinite while it is actually finite.
Simon Sinek articulated exactly what happened to me after I “won” college by graduating and getting a job.
“[Unfortunately], I’ve seen this so many times. From a young age, all you’ve wanted to do is get to Broadway. And then you get to Broadway. You devote your entire life to one finite goal and when you get there, the immediate response is depression.”
Infinite games cannot be played as part of a finite game.
After college, Simon’s words came true for me. I spent about 2 years in intellectual limbo, without clear direction of what I wanted to do in life, yet alone my career. Carse details that the end of a finite game the winner receives a title and all players receive a rank, with the winner receiving the highest rank. Titles point backwards in time. They are symbols of a finite game that has concluded and can never be played again. I spent 2 years post-undergrad trying to violate this axiom. I signed up for various machine learning MOOCs and read a lot of career self-help books in pursuit of a new, but eerily similar, finite game of achieving high ranks at my company. Predictably, this did not result in joyous play, but frustrating agony. I was trying to replicate a title that was already won, and by definition cannot ever be won again.
So I went back to graduate school to get another electrical engineering degree, with the hopes of entering yet another finite contest and win another title. I won my second title a little over a year ago, and this book caught me at the right time. I am exactly where I was when I won my first title: working at a large corporation and continuing my self-education. This time, however, instead of playing another finite game with the goal of winning a title, I am choosing to play these finite games within the context of an infinite game.
Renewed Optimism for the Future
Fortunately, a finite game can be played as part of an infinite game. Within an infinite context, the purpose of a finite game is not necessarily to win a title (although a title is won), but it is to inform the rules of infinite play. In an infinite game rules are allowed to change. In fact, they must change because boundaries shift and new players come into play. In an infinite game, you’re allowed to recognize titles only for the purposes of learning from it.
The new infinite game of my career will not be in pursuit of titles.
When I first incorporated Fringe Labs in October 2021, I had visions of it becoming a replica of all the finite games I’ve previously won. I imagined Fringe Labs as a behemoth institution with the ability to indoctrinate players, including myself, with titles such as CEO or Director of Data Science or janitor. It’s also difficult to start a company without falling into the trap of one of the most popular finite games in American capitalism — the pursuit of wealth. One of the biggest lessons from Finite and Infinite Games was that wealth is yet another title. Wealth is performative, with the purpose of it, like all titles, being to point backwards in time towards a finite game that was already completed. Becoming financially independent is a finite game that I’d like to play, only because it exists within the context of the infinite game of traveling the world and spending time with others. I ultimately want time, which is infinite and to be experienced. Wealth is finite and performative.
If you had peaked at the Fringe Labs website prior to me reading this book, you would’ve seen the celebration of titles. The website was riddled with reasons why you should contract this boutique data science consultancy. The founder, me, has won a lot of titles. I have a degree in this, and I’ve worked for that. I was trying to communicate that I had won enough titles to be considered a master player. Carse defines a master player as a player who is able to anticipate every possible move and outcome in a game. How could I possibly be a master player if I’ve never formally started a business prior to this?
The infinite game of business is not played that way.
The new Fringe Labs website adheres to more infinite principles. Take a look:
Very infinite! Will there ever be a time when life becomes easy? Absolutely not. But that does not stop me from building something that will continuously make life easier, whatever that means.
I’ve also defined boundaries for Fringe Labs, not as constraints, but as limitations to be played with. I bounded Fringe Labs to working with data. That’s what I happen to be good at in the present moment. In the spirit of infinite play, I am now open to a foreseeable future when working with data is not a part of my career. That would’ve sounded crazy if I was still pursuing the titles of climbing the corporate ladder. The titles within a corporation are usually awarded based on deep expertise in a niche topic.
I will likely have to develop deep expertise in a niche area in order to use data to make life easier, but the reason for doing so will be entirely different than it was prior to reading Finite and Infinite Games.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what finite game Fringe Labs was meant to play. Practically, this meant determining which finite contests Fringe Labs would enter. Which industry would Fringe Labs play in? Who are the customers? How would it make money besides being a consultancy? I stressed over the answers to these questions because if you do not finish a finite game, you lose the game. And I hate losing.
Now, the answer to these questions are a lot less serious. It is the hallmark of infinite play to not take play serious. It is not a loss if I start in one industry and discover that I’m better prepared to make life easier by playing in a different industry. It is also not a loss if I end up consulting forever and never build a product.
There is a newfound optimism for me personally and for Fringe Laboratories.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my finite game is over. I’ve entered a new infinite game. Infinite games don’t have a beginning like finite ones do, and so I can’t say that this moment marks the beginning of an infinite game in my career. Instead, this moment marks a time when I begin to look at titles for what they actually are. In infinite games titles are optional and are only used to inform the rules of infinite play. Because I’ve only played finite games in the past, I have lots of experience to inform how I’ll navigate this new era.
I’ll repeat the 4 rules of a game, as defined by graph theory:
Objects used to play the game have no purpose outside of the game.
A game has an opening arrangement.
Games have a clear goal.
There are rules of engagement.
Because finite games can be played within infinite games, these 4 rules also apply to infinite games. The last 2 rules, which I previously struggled with to apply to life, have become a lot clearer. Life does not have a clear goal, nor does it need one. There is no winning. The purpose of life is to keep as many people playing as possible. This does not make sense in a finite context, but in an infinite context, a game played with others that has no ending is the ultimate game! Life also does not have rules. This is frustrating to the finite player, but it makes for a very interesting infinite game. We can make our own rules! We’re allowed to make and destroy our own boundaries, not for the purposes of limiting what we can do with our lives, but to play with them as we see fit.
Finite and Infinite Games was a challenging read. Books with small words but big ideas usually are. I usually synthesize the ideas I’m having as I’m reading a book by taking notes. There were several moments when I read a sentence and was incapable of putting it into my own words. The pen stayed limp in my hand. It just didn’t make sense.
But if you find yourself chasing a particular outcome in your career, I strongly encourage you to grab a pen and pick up Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. Have patience with it, struggle with it and re-read as necessary.
The struggle is worth it so that you give yourself permission to play your infinite game.
