Win the Greatest Set of All Possible Games

And life is not simply a game, but a series of games, each of which has something in common (whatever defines a game) and something unique (or there would be no reason for multiple games). At minimum, there is a starting point (kindergarten, a 0–0 score, a first date, an entry-level job) that needs to be improved upon; a procedure for enacting that improvement; and a desirable goal (graduation from high school, a winning score, a permanent romantic relationship, a prestigious career). Because of that commonality, there is an ethic—or more properly, a meta-ethic—that emerges, from the bottom up, across the set of all games.

It is better to win the largest set of all possible games, rather than winning individual games. This is a real and foundational meta-ethic that has emerged within society through evolution. For this reason, strategies and hierarchies based purely on power and dominance do not last. As there are many games to play, the best strategy for playing the most games is to cooperate in a way that everyone can tolerate and benefit from.

The best player is therefore not the winner of any given game but, among many other things, he or she who is invited by the largest number of others to play the most extensive series of games. It is for this reason, which you may not understand explicitly at the time, that you tell your children: “It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game!”* How should you play, to be that most desirable of players? What structure must take form within you so that such play is possible? And those two questions are interrelated, because the structure that will enable you to play properly (and with increasing and automated or habitual precision) will emerge only in the process of continually practicing the art of playing properly. Where might you learn how to play? Everywhere . . . if you are fortunate and awake.”

You want to win the war, not just the battle. If you sacrifice everything just to win a battle, you will not win the war. In F1 racing, drivers have to think about the team and cannot be too selfish in a race. If they alienate their team they risk having the support needed to win a championship. Leadership that is too authoritarian will lead to revolts—governance should benefit the most amount of people. It is better to think win-win, and win through actions, not argument.

References

1139 - Jordan Peterson - The Joe Rogan Experience (42:00)

Beyond Order by Jordan Peterson