# Infinite games In game theory, there are finite and infinite games & players. Finite games have clear endings and beginnings, rules, and delineation of winners. Think baseball or basketball or high school academics. Infinite games, on the other hand, have known and unknown players, the rules are changeable, there are no winners or losers, and the objective is to perpetuate the game. Finite players play the game and win or lose. Infinite players drop out when they run out of the will or resources to play. They are not playing to win every moment of every day, just playing to outlast everyone else. When these forces come into contact, interesting things happen: - Finite player vs. finite player = stability (normal baseball) - Infinite player vs. infinite player = cold war (no winners or losers) - Finite player vs. infinite player = one trying to win, the other trying to keep it going (us in vietnam, us was playing to win, vietnamese trying to play for its lives) An enormously underrated superpower is the awareness of what game you're playing. For example, most investors try to get rich overnight, take an exorbitant amount of unintelligent risk, and blow up very quickly. They are finite players trying to win an infinite game of [[The silver bullet in investing|compounding]]. The extremely successful long-term investors like Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger, on the other hand, are incredible infinite players. Warren has been quoted as saying, "rule number 1? don't lose money. rule number 2? don't forget rule number 1." He has outlasted just about everyone else and compounded continuously since he was 7 years old. Charlie has been quoted saying "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent." And he too has outlasted both financially and physically, pushing 100 years of age. As much as I love finite competition, basketball in particular, the long-term satisfaction comes from a mixture of being both types of players in both types of games. For example, in basketball on a game by game basis I want to be a finite player and kick the ever living shit out of my opponents. Yet I want to be an infinite player over the course of my basketball career and continue to improve my nutrition, strength, skill, intellect, etc. And in my career, I seek the same. As an aspiring craftsman, I put forth an effort to write daily and hone my craft of communication. Each individual piece? I'm trying to bang it out in a reasonable amount of time without sacrificing quality to get my reps in, where shipping the work for the day is a win. But over my career? I'm fine with taking as much time as I need to hone the craft and practice, since I'm committed to said practice and craft over the long run. I will continue to do it day in and day out hopefully for the remainder of my life. The takeaway is to know which game you're playing and adjust accordingly, knowing you can hold the idea of both finite and infinite in your mind at the same time and not only function but perform at a much higher level than those who cannot. This is a secret weapon most people will never grasp. Use it and crush.