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Is life really a "zero-sum" game?

Blogs > nimysa
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nimysa
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States383 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-23 06:05:53
December 23 2008 05:57 GMT
#1
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

*
tube
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States1475 Posts
December 23 2008 05:58 GMT
#2
god there are so many intelligent posts these days,
i feel somewhat out of place
Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection.
Astrogation
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States477 Posts
December 23 2008 06:06 GMT
#3
Depends what facet of life we're applying the term zero-sum to. Are we talking about money, happiness, love, or something else? For the abstract areas, life could possibly be argued to be zero-sum; however, it's definitely not the case for money or social status. Ex: Just look at the huge gap between the number of rich and poor people in all countries. Personally, I don't think any part of life is zero-sum, just because of the crazy variance.
Terranesque
Profile Joined September 2007
119 Posts
December 23 2008 06:14 GMT
#4
Cute.
SmoKing2012
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States385 Posts
December 23 2008 06:18 GMT
#5
If life was a zero-sum game then no one would trade.
How do you like them apples, ho-bag? And how do you like those very same apples, Eggars!
drone
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
70 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-23 06:31:10
December 23 2008 06:27 GMT
#6
It isn’t. I think that the belief that life is a 'zero sum' game is one of the natural downfalls of humanity. At the same time, I feel that though the belief may be present, the actual occurrence of it is decreasing as an aspect of evolution and progress. As our societies and economies develop and grow in complexity, we can no longer determine a clear winner and a clear loser. Why? Nothing is as straightforward anymore. If we look at the state of ‘global’ economy two centuries ago (as limited as it was), it was easy to discern who wanted what and who could produce what. The supply and demand cycle was very simple. That’s not the case anymore: the world around us has progressed immensely and grown to a complexity in which we cannot easily discriminate these simple facts. What we are realizing now is that to fully progress, we must cooperate and collaborate as a society. To go back to the economics example, we no longer have a ‘limit’ to what we can do (our population is increasing and as a result the demands will infinitely increase) and by cooperating everyone in the population benefits.

If competition is fierce and only one individual out of a hundred can succeed, how is that benefiting a society? True, that one individual succeeds in life and is satisfied. But what about all the others? The argument does not have to be one about collectivism versus individualism: if we eliminate competition and focus on the benefit of society as a greater whole, will we not be positively affected as well being part of that society? Everyone is a winner.

I feel the mentality of "It's not enough that we win; all others must lose" (Larry Ellison) is detrimental to society and on a deeper level, the individual. Is there really a sense of gratification in winning over everyone else? Perhaps, but it’s temporary; in the end, the only question that remains is ‘so what?’

tl;dr : It isn't because life is too complex.
마재윤
BanZu
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States3329 Posts
December 23 2008 06:36 GMT
#7
This may seem like an interesting discussion topic but to me it seems ridiculously pointless.
Sun Tzu once said, "Defiler becomes useless at the presences of a vessel."
drone
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
70 Posts
December 23 2008 06:45 GMT
#8
btw, here is an interesting book on the topic
마재윤
Dgtl
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada889 Posts
December 23 2008 06:52 GMT
#9
No it isn't, if everything was black and white it would be pretty fucking boring don't you think?
^______________^
meegrean
Profile Joined May 2008
Thailand7699 Posts
December 23 2008 06:55 GMT
#10
The answer is simple: No.
Brood War loyalist
Klockan3
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
Sweden2866 Posts
December 23 2008 06:59 GMT
#11
I think that someone just got dumped in favour of a jerk.
geometryb
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
United States1249 Posts
December 23 2008 07:10 GMT
#12
why is it zero sum?
MiniRoman
Profile Blog Joined September 2003
Canada3953 Posts
December 23 2008 07:19 GMT
#13
I think the impossibilities are really endless when it comes to living your life. I don't think any one person has the right to call anyone else a loser really. What I mean is that not every man and woman is created equally in their wants and needs. Everyone has personal agency and they all interpellate culture and live in their own ways. If being a winner is defined only as success in a free market capitalist society, or having more stuff than other people, then you ignore individual desires.

As humans we have the power to control our future by walking towards it. I feel life will always be about connecting with other people. The concept of our self would be completly meaningless without others. Nothing would matter so for me life is like (Population to the exponent of population) cuz shits crazy. Every day is different and I believe your life could change at any given second.
Nak Allstar.
il0seonpurpose
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Korea (South)5638 Posts
December 23 2008 07:21 GMT
#14
I think it's negative; first on economy, every country is in debt somehow to other countries. And there are more poor people than rich
geometryb
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
United States1249 Posts
December 23 2008 07:39 GMT
#15
in class, i learned that when people trade, both parties benefit. everyone is better off because they each have more utils than they would if they didn't trade so both of them are gaining.
Hyperbola
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States2551 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-23 07:48:08
December 23 2008 07:46 GMT
#16
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
####
zobz
Profile Joined November 2005
Canada2175 Posts
December 23 2008 07:54 GMT
#17
Of course, not every gain by an individual is at the expense of another individual, there are lots of mutually beneficial processes in society with each party giving something and getting something, confident that their gain is greater than their loss. But people do get ripped off much too often. And swindlers are often called winners anyway, i feel.
"That's not gonna be good for business." "That's not gonna be good for anybody."
SchOOl_VicTIm
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
Greece2394 Posts
December 23 2008 07:57 GMT
#18
Life is not a zero-sum game simply because in order for one to win something, another one doesn't have to lose it. And this is because what one has to gain, doesn't have to be materialistic (even if it would, it would only be true if one couldn't create the thing(s) he needs, but a set number of goods had to be distributed).
From my life experience, never did anyone get "happiness" by gaining money or goods. "Happiness" (which I will assume is what we should perceive as the "win scenario" in life) is an internal thing and a very subjective one as well. So, how can there be winners and losers when each and every one can fall into any of these categories, requiring just his own self and mind power?
zobz
Profile Joined November 2005
Canada2175 Posts
December 23 2008 07:59 GMT
#19
On December 23 2008 16:46 Hyperbola wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
You could say that about any 'why' question if you believe in determinism, which many people do. But that would make for dry answers to alot of interesting questions. Also, if you believe in free will, we have the power to change the course of things and answering these why questions instead of taking everything for granted can help us to do that.
"That's not gonna be good for business." "That's not gonna be good for anybody."
Kwidowmaker
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
Canada978 Posts
December 23 2008 08:26 GMT
#20
On December 23 2008 16:57 SchOOl_VicTIm wrote:
Life is not a zero-sum game simply because in order for one to win something, another one doesn't have to lose it. And this is because what one has to gain, doesn't have to be materialistic (even if it would, it would only be true if one couldn't create the thing(s) he needs, but a set number of goods had to be distributed).
From my life experience, never did anyone get "happiness" by gaining money or goods. "Happiness" (which I will assume is what we should perceive as the "win scenario" in life) is an internal thing and a very subjective one as well. So, how can there be winners and losers when each and every one can fall into any of these categories, requiring just his own self and mind power?



Expanding upon this: The zero-sum mentality doesn't apply to materialistic things either. When one works materials into something more useful, that person has created value - value being defined as something's worth to people. The difference between resources and products is the hours that are put into this, and in this way value is created. It is easily seen then, that the total amount of value in the world is increasing. Value can also be lost, like destruction in war, but no value is necessarily lost, so in this sense value is not zero sum.

Of course when you work material into something you lose the opportunity to work it into something else, so I'm not sure how that factors in. Someone smarter could make sense of this.
Kk.
Hyperbola
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States2551 Posts
December 23 2008 08:31 GMT
#21
On December 23 2008 16:59 zobz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 16:46 Hyperbola wrote:
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
You could say that about any 'why' question if you believe in determinism, which many people do. But that would make for dry answers to alot of interesting questions. Also, if you believe in free will, we have the power to change the course of things and answering these why questions instead of taking everything for granted can help us to do that.

Free will is a funny concept. Of course people can make all kinds of decisions but what is considered their decision is really a combination of factors which influence a person to act in a certain way. Now 99% of the decisions made by a person in their everyday life is done purely through emotion. Emotional responses are pre-programmed through genetics and social programming. The other 1% of decisions are logical and yet influenced by emotions as well. "Logic" is gained through observations of countless things throughout a person's life and witnessing reactions and outcomes and it also is heavily influenced by instinct. Whatever decision is made is the result of a certain combination of recorded instances combined with emotional responses and instinct. Alright, enough intellectual blabber.
As for the OP, thinking too much about these things is really depressing. Although I do not think ignorance is a good thing, living your life without really trying to justify or over think everything is a much happier life style.
####
freelander
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
Hungary4707 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-23 09:03:10
December 23 2008 09:01 GMT
#22
On December 23 2008 17:31 Hyperbola wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 16:59 zobz wrote:
On December 23 2008 16:46 Hyperbola wrote:
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
You could say that about any 'why' question if you believe in determinism, which many people do. But that would make for dry answers to alot of interesting questions. Also, if you believe in free will, we have the power to change the course of things and answering these why questions instead of taking everything for granted can help us to do that.

Free will is a funny concept. Of course people can make all kinds of decisions but what is considered their decision is really a combination of factors which influence a person to act in a certain way. Now 99% of the decisions made by a person in their everyday life is done purely through emotion. Emotional responses are pre-programmed through genetics and social programming. The other 1% of decisions are logical and yet influenced by emotions as well. "Logic" is gained through observations of countless things throughout a person's life and witnessing reactions and outcomes and it also is heavily influenced by instinct. Whatever decision is made is the result of a certain combination of recorded instances combined with emotional responses and instinct. Alright, enough intellectual blabber.
As for the OP, thinking too much about these things is really depressing. Although I do not think ignorance is a good thing, living your life without really trying to justify or over think everything is a much happier life style.


well one of my most depressing experiences was when a read book titled "Human Games" or something. It was written by a psychologist and it described real life 2 person situations and he wrote what the usual outcomes were, what could alter the outcomes, which person plays what role in that specific game... it was very scary, after reading that I was thinking about people as machines for a while.
And all is illuminated.
koreakool
Profile Joined January 2008
United States334 Posts
December 23 2008 09:33 GMT
#23
No, I don't believe in a zero-sum game of life. This is because I don't see the world in black and white: everything is a mix of grey. There is no right, there is no wrong, there are only values that people accept to be true and believe even though no one can truly say they are more good or more bad than the other.
Navane
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Netherlands2751 Posts
December 23 2008 14:25 GMT
#24
It's not.
Kennelie
Profile Joined December 2007
United States2296 Posts
December 23 2008 14:34 GMT
#25
Hell Fuckin Yea!!!.....I liked the short read..
ya had ya shot kid!
MiniRoman
Profile Blog Joined September 2003
Canada3953 Posts
December 23 2008 14:48 GMT
#26
On December 23 2008 17:31 Hyperbola wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 16:59 zobz wrote:
On December 23 2008 16:46 Hyperbola wrote:
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
You could say that about any 'why' question if you believe in determinism, which many people do. But that would make for dry answers to alot of interesting questions. Also, if you believe in free will, we have the power to change the course of things and answering these why questions instead of taking everything for granted can help us to do that.

Free will is a funny concept. Of course people can make all kinds of decisions but what is considered their decision is really a combination of factors which influence a person to act in a certain way. Now 99% of the decisions made by a person in their everyday life is done purely through emotion. Emotional responses are pre-programmed through genetics and social programming. The other 1% of decisions are logical and yet influenced by emotions as well. "Logic" is gained through observations of countless things throughout a person's life and witnessing reactions and outcomes and it also is heavily influenced by instinct. Whatever decision is made is the result of a certain combination of recorded instances combined with emotional responses and instinct. Alright, enough intellectual blabber.
As for the OP, thinking too much about these things is really depressing. Although I do not think ignorance is a good thing, living your life without really trying to justify or over think everything is a much happier life style.


Most of your decisions in day to day life come because of cultural discourses over emotion, these are hedgmonic decisions (something so natural it goes unquestioned by use - hedgmony). If almost all your decisions were emotional ones then you wouldn't have any sort of logic or stability and you would look feel like a crazy person. Logic comes from your understanding a given situation and useing your intellect to determine the "best" outcome or process and it doesn't have to fall in line with your instinct. Society does not have the power to pre-program your emotional responses it just defines the rules of discourse (societal norms that construct the rules of talking about a subject/topic by saying what can and cannot be said, always changing) that you live within. You're still free. The rule of law is always forcibly coersed on citizens but laws are always broken so clearly they don't always mean that much.
Nak Allstar.
WebOfMaya
Profile Joined November 2008
United States48 Posts
December 23 2008 15:34 GMT
#27
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.


Can you give us an example of what you're talking about here?
vhallee
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
899 Posts
December 23 2008 16:08 GMT
#28
life's not fair, so it's not a zero-sum game.
Marijuana causes amnesia and other things I don't remember.
freelander
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
Hungary4707 Posts
December 23 2008 16:27 GMT
#29
On December 24 2008 01:08 vhallee wrote:
life's not fair, so it's not a zero-sum game.


what ~~
And all is illuminated.
nimysa
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States383 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-12-24 02:11:54
December 23 2008 22:22 GMT
#30
On December 24 2008 00:34 WebOfMaya wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.


Can you give us an example of what you're talking about here?

When a society has something that benefits them, even if there is something wrong with it, people will still have that something regardless of its wrongness.

In other words, people don't exactly know whats good for them.


Klockan3
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
Sweden2866 Posts
December 24 2008 02:17 GMT
#31
On December 24 2008 07:22 nimysa wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2008 00:34 WebOfMaya wrote:
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.


Can you give us an example of what you're talking about here?

When a society has something that benefits them, even if there is something wroon ng with it, people will still have that something.

In other words, people don't exactly know whats good for them.

How are those two related?

People don't know what is good for them, that is obvious, but what do it have to do with people having something that is not perfect? Do you mean that it is better to have nothing at all than something imperfect?

Also life can't as a fact be a zero sum game or life could not have sprouted up from almost nothing :p
Klockan3
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
Sweden2866 Posts
December 24 2008 02:24 GMT
#32
On December 23 2008 18:01 freelander wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 23 2008 17:31 Hyperbola wrote:
On December 23 2008 16:59 zobz wrote:
On December 23 2008 16:46 Hyperbola wrote:
On December 23 2008 14:57 nimysa wrote:
I have been thinking for a while lately and society in general has always aggravated me and my thoughts. First of all, why is it that people perceive well-being to be a zero-sum game? I find good and intelligent people being indoctrinated by a third-world barbaric outlook of life concerning two absolutes; winners and losers, a truly black and white world where the process of our world is influenced upon the operations of people existing within these two paradigms.

It seems my friends, that people are unwilling to question authority. From everything from journals to scientific publications, people are always interested in the social implication of things. This is where this zero-sum game mentality comes into play. I never understood people sometimes, I always thought that life was so much more complex then people gaining something; where at the same time, it is this complexity that influences such gains. Yet of all the miraculous things that happens, the majority of people still view this world as black and white. Is it unwillingness to question and change societal definitions? I have asked many people and some of them do believe there is more to life, but then at the same, they're quickly influenced by people, return back to this darwinistic philosophy and show how superficial they really are.
I ask you, do you believe in a zero-sum game of life?
Do you think that life is too complex to be a zero-sum game and we should adhere and attempt to understand the gears behind it?
What are you're thoughts behind this?
If you do believe in a black and white world of winners and losers, why do you do so?
Has pursuing life with such ideals given any success or guaranteed success to any of you or anyone you know?
Do you believe that, this is something inherent in society?

Another interesting thing I noticed about people and society is that when someone has something and another someone doesn't have something, and the person without the something complains about it, the person with the something is right. If something was wrong about the special thing that the person had and the process by which it was acquired, then the wrongness of "said" object is discarded by the masses because of the fact that a person has acquired it. Very paradoxical and interesting human behavior.

That's how we are. Evolution does not "choose", it is. Asking "why" something happens to be like asking: why is there any matter in the universe in the first place? There just is.
You could say that about any 'why' question if you believe in determinism, which many people do. But that would make for dry answers to alot of interesting questions. Also, if you believe in free will, we have the power to change the course of things and answering these why questions instead of taking everything for granted can help us to do that.

Free will is a funny concept. Of course people can make all kinds of decisions but what is considered their decision is really a combination of factors which influence a person to act in a certain way. Now 99% of the decisions made by a person in their everyday life is done purely through emotion. Emotional responses are pre-programmed through genetics and social programming. The other 1% of decisions are logical and yet influenced by emotions as well. "Logic" is gained through observations of countless things throughout a person's life and witnessing reactions and outcomes and it also is heavily influenced by instinct. Whatever decision is made is the result of a certain combination of recorded instances combined with emotional responses and instinct. Alright, enough intellectual blabber.
As for the OP, thinking too much about these things is really depressing. Although I do not think ignorance is a good thing, living your life without really trying to justify or over think everything is a much happier life style.


well one of my most depressing experiences was when a read book titled "Human Games" or something. It was written by a psychologist and it described real life 2 person situations and he wrote what the usual outcomes were, what could alter the outcomes, which person plays what role in that specific game... it was very scary, after reading that I was thinking about people as machines for a while.

If you start to analyse yourself and your thinking/behaviour patterns you realize that this is true though. Humans are really marvellous, the bulk is built up from a large set of stable processes which are needed to keep us alive and then a few sets of chaotic processes which allows us to think in wrong ways.

Being able to think "wrong" is the most important step towards creativity and in the end the ideas goes the way of Darwin where the most successful ones survive while we kill off the rest. Electronic components are too perfect to allow them to do such things which is why the Turing problem holds, the machines are fail safe.
rKos
Profile Joined July 2008
Finland131 Posts
January 02 2009 06:25 GMT
#33
It is a zero-sum game. I win, you lose, everyone is unhappy. Always.
That's life.
Physician *
Profile Blog Joined January 2004
United States4146 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-02 07:18:21
January 02 2009 07:16 GMT
#34
gg is death and as far as I know no one I've met or known personally has passed that level, so unless ur jesus, life is not a zero-sum game, cause its gg for everyone sooner or later..
"I have beheld the births of negative-suns and borne witness to the entropy of entire realities...."
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