i was part of a discussion group hosted by ryan, along with: james, cody, gabriel, matt, duan, devlin, tess, alua, antonia, and a couple of others whose names i can’t recall.
we spoke about finite & infinite games.
ryan had a structure, which i think worked in our favour. we arrived at an ‘objective’ understanding of the book, or rather a collective, objective interpretation of what the author was trying to convey. then, we discussed subjective ‘opinions’.
alua made me resolve my confusion, and was the first to point out that the author was suggesting an approach, and not a way to bucket experiences. that was helpful — i grasped onto that quickly.
it took me a while to get other people on board with the fact that all of life can be lived via an infinite approach. first, i don’t think people were seriously considering what i was saying. perhaps i jumped steps, or everyone was passionate about what they wanted to say (and in that sense, i was guilty too).
eventually, alua, james & i (perhaps even duan) grasped quickly onto the point that many activities are better lived via an infinite approach, motivated by a ‘purer’ intention than ‘winning’. interestingly, all the older people in the room were skeptical.
most people my age have also been converted to playing more finite games (thought credit: duan). i implicitly knew this, and chose to play it more infinitely (motivated by curiosity, rather than attempting to ‘outsmart’ or ‘outdo’ someone), but the book gave me vocabulary to express so.
i was just grateful to be part of a group of people who gave a shit, even if we had a difference of opinion.
somehow, at times, what i say is discarded immediately by people hearing them (and they choose to share their perspectives instead). i wonder if this is racial — because it happens via some people — or is it because they think lowly of me (because of some other arbitrary factor that i can’t yet understand).
or maybe, it’s because i don’t present (or market, according to ryan) it well. matt said:
with time there will be more of a shared understanding where people can better consider the points you bring up.
maybe.