This piece seems to fundamentally misunderstand what zero-sum games are and why they matter.
There is no substantive difference between negative-sum and positive-sum games; the only difference is between zero-sum vs nonzero. If there’s a possibility for both sides to be worse off, then there’s a possibility for both sides to be better off (by avoiding the both-sides-worse-off outcome).
Even the “zero-sum subgames” are radically altered by the presence of nonzero-sum possibilities. This is the classic work of Schelling on negotiations (including things like salary negotiations, chores between a couple, or elections). The presence of negative-sum alternatives allows parties to use threats (i.e. threaten to make the negative-sum alternative happen if they don’t get their way in the negotiation), which would not work at all in a true zero-sum game. In zero-sum, making the other party worse off is always better for me, so there’s no reason to threaten—I just make them worse off whenever the opportunity arises.
The large majority of the examples in the post are nonzero sum, and even the exceptions are debatable—most real-world games allow some way for the parties to throw away resources.
This is a fair criticism of the game theory aspects—I concede it seems wrong. Do you also believe this mistake undermines the main point of the post—that positional results are important to happiness which makes it that not everyone can be happy?
I think that, after correcting the game theoretic aspects, the post provided very little argument for that conclusion. That’s not to say that the rarity of true zero-sum games makes the conclusion implausible, it’s just that it requires a different/additional argument.
Reflecting on your comment six months later, I think even though the criticism is valid, it completely misses the main point of the post. It wasn’t written to discuss the differences in strategic choices between playing zero and non-zero-sum games, but the ingrained conflict of interests between different players in life and the fact that winning in zero-sum/negative-sum games is just as crucial for happiness and survival as the nicer-to-talk-about cooperation in positive-sum games, and that it’s insincere to claim otherwise.
This piece seems to fundamentally misunderstand what zero-sum games are and why they matter.
There is no substantive difference between negative-sum and positive-sum games; the only difference is between zero-sum vs nonzero. If there’s a possibility for both sides to be worse off, then there’s a possibility for both sides to be better off (by avoiding the both-sides-worse-off outcome).
Even the “zero-sum subgames” are radically altered by the presence of nonzero-sum possibilities. This is the classic work of Schelling on negotiations (including things like salary negotiations, chores between a couple, or elections). The presence of negative-sum alternatives allows parties to use threats (i.e. threaten to make the negative-sum alternative happen if they don’t get their way in the negotiation), which would not work at all in a true zero-sum game. In zero-sum, making the other party worse off is always better for me, so there’s no reason to threaten—I just make them worse off whenever the opportunity arises.
The large majority of the examples in the post are nonzero sum, and even the exceptions are debatable—most real-world games allow some way for the parties to throw away resources.
This is a fair criticism of the game theory aspects—I concede it seems wrong. Do you also believe this mistake undermines the main point of the post—that positional results are important to happiness which makes it that not everyone can be happy?
I think that, after correcting the game theoretic aspects, the post provided very little argument for that conclusion. That’s not to say that the rarity of true zero-sum games makes the conclusion implausible, it’s just that it requires a different/additional argument.
Reflecting on your comment six months later, I think even though the criticism is valid, it completely misses the main point of the post. It wasn’t written to discuss the differences in strategic choices between playing zero and non-zero-sum games, but the ingrained conflict of interests between different players in life and the fact that winning in zero-sum/negative-sum games is just as crucial for happiness and survival as the nicer-to-talk-about cooperation in positive-sum games, and that it’s insincere to claim otherwise.