Really interesting article, but you ignore the Gatekeepers - political, cultural, and, increasingly, technical entities who seek to define the rules. The paths to success in the game have narrowed in the last few years as discourse has been ever more tightly controlled. I don't know how you can possibly argue there are small downsides. For most people with a 9-to-5, the Game is a way to lose everything offline simply by making a mistake online.
I used to be absolutely positive about it as well but... We run into problems when it's expected of everyone to have this job-on-top-of-the-job. Also gaming Twitter by presenting a certain way and avoiding all the pitfalls as all of us become public figures is soul-corrosive to some. The downsides of failure (and even success) are way worse than you present.
I couldn't but help see the title as an allusion to "The Great Game" referred to in the 19th century by British elites. The Carse citation seems more apt, yet Carse concludes his work by stating there is only one infinite game. Yet, you state the Great Online Game is *an* infinite game. This is to misread Carse who wanted to throw a wrench into Wittgenstein's language theory of games - plural - by concluding that there is only one game. That said, this is a very eye opening article on the embarrassment of riches available to those who try the Great Online Game!
Another great article as usual Packy. I was actually thinking of this essay and "life as a video game" while reading the news the day after the Mayweather vs. Logan Paul which happened yesterday (June 6th 2021). Here you have two people that are playing the video game of life very well.
The ideas explored in your article also remind me of Robin Hanson's "How to Win a Simulation" and Shawn Wang's "Learn in Public".
Started this article trying to figure out if we've reached Peak Musk yet (like in the 90s we attained Peak Gates, on the hard edged techie side of Tech, just as, on the soft, commercial side we went from Peak Jobs to Peak Bezos). Didn't find an answer to that, of course, but thanks for the graphic explaining the appeal of crypto. If ever a picture was worth a thousand words . . .
This was such a fascinating (and inspiring) read, Packy. Thank you for sharing! Unknowingly, this is exactly what I have been needing to read for a while.
*Turning off lurkmode* Another awesome article out of many. Saw that tweet of the "retarded" comment that's conveniently below this. Not that you need to be reminded but Fuck the haterz. And if you're ever short on confidence. Return to this.
Excellent article, thank you! I've been thinking separately about some of the things you described, but you have put them in a beautiful structure. I've also just realized that essentially I have been playing the game for the last year... I started discussing investment ideas with someone I knew which then evolved into a small discussion group which may now lead to me managing OPM. In parallel I increased my personal capital multi-fold through public markets (a large contributor was GME which I first noticed in Michael Burry's portfolio and then followed via Seeking Alpha, Reddit and Twitter) and crypto (just plain BTC in an algo fund managed by someone I knew). As a result I quit my job in private equity and now manage my portfolio full time. It was all quite stressful and not easy, but definitely fun! Planning to continue playing the game :)
Interesting analogy of likening our daily lives to games and how crypto has the components of a great game. However, I feel like there are a couple of loopholes in the argument.
Firstly, while the network effect / video game analogy could explain the rise in crypto, it does not explain why value stocks are growing as well (I dont see how that could be seen as 'fun' or containing the community incentives that should also be shared with growth tech stocks).
Furthermore, the notion that the Great Online Game thrives on "community and cooperation over individualism and competition. You get points for being curious, sharing, and helping with no expectation of reciprocation" does not apply only to crypto, but could very well be applied across all types of investments (ala wallstreetbets and gamestop) - and the 'rewards' people get would be in the form of recognition, stock, returns. Tokens in terms of crypto is just simply another form of 'stock' in which people can gain returns, not necessarily because they believe in the project.
Nonetheless, thank you for kicking off a great thought experiment with this article, it would be interesting to see how the overall tech and crypto market develops over time.
The Great Online Game
Really interesting article, but you ignore the Gatekeepers - political, cultural, and, increasingly, technical entities who seek to define the rules. The paths to success in the game have narrowed in the last few years as discourse has been ever more tightly controlled. I don't know how you can possibly argue there are small downsides. For most people with a 9-to-5, the Game is a way to lose everything offline simply by making a mistake online.
I just wanted to give this excellent essay its 200th like :)
"dont be an asshole" is how to win at so much...
... and is also impossibly-difficult; an infinite game.
I used to be absolutely positive about it as well but... We run into problems when it's expected of everyone to have this job-on-top-of-the-job. Also gaming Twitter by presenting a certain way and avoiding all the pitfalls as all of us become public figures is soul-corrosive to some. The downsides of failure (and even success) are way worse than you present.
This was a great read, thanks for clearing a couple of things for me that I wasn't sure off. I'm ready to play now 😉
I couldn't but help see the title as an allusion to "The Great Game" referred to in the 19th century by British elites. The Carse citation seems more apt, yet Carse concludes his work by stating there is only one infinite game. Yet, you state the Great Online Game is *an* infinite game. This is to misread Carse who wanted to throw a wrench into Wittgenstein's language theory of games - plural - by concluding that there is only one game. That said, this is a very eye opening article on the embarrassment of riches available to those who try the Great Online Game!
Another great article as usual Packy. I was actually thinking of this essay and "life as a video game" while reading the news the day after the Mayweather vs. Logan Paul which happened yesterday (June 6th 2021). Here you have two people that are playing the video game of life very well.
The ideas explored in your article also remind me of Robin Hanson's "How to Win a Simulation" and Shawn Wang's "Learn in Public".
Keep up the excellent work!
Started this article trying to figure out if we've reached Peak Musk yet (like in the 90s we attained Peak Gates, on the hard edged techie side of Tech, just as, on the soft, commercial side we went from Peak Jobs to Peak Bezos). Didn't find an answer to that, of course, but thanks for the graphic explaining the appeal of crypto. If ever a picture was worth a thousand words . . .
This was such a fascinating (and inspiring) read, Packy. Thank you for sharing! Unknowingly, this is exactly what I have been needing to read for a while.
*Turning off lurkmode* Another awesome article out of many. Saw that tweet of the "retarded" comment that's conveniently below this. Not that you need to be reminded but Fuck the haterz. And if you're ever short on confidence. Return to this.
I re-read this article weekly. Can I buy the NFT? :)
Very thought-provoking, powerful central insight. Thanks for writing, man! 💚🥃
Excellent article, thank you! I've been thinking separately about some of the things you described, but you have put them in a beautiful structure. I've also just realized that essentially I have been playing the game for the last year... I started discussing investment ideas with someone I knew which then evolved into a small discussion group which may now lead to me managing OPM. In parallel I increased my personal capital multi-fold through public markets (a large contributor was GME which I first noticed in Michael Burry's portfolio and then followed via Seeking Alpha, Reddit and Twitter) and crypto (just plain BTC in an algo fund managed by someone I knew). As a result I quit my job in private equity and now manage my portfolio full time. It was all quite stressful and not easy, but definitely fun! Planning to continue playing the game :)
Interesting analogy of likening our daily lives to games and how crypto has the components of a great game. However, I feel like there are a couple of loopholes in the argument.
Firstly, while the network effect / video game analogy could explain the rise in crypto, it does not explain why value stocks are growing as well (I dont see how that could be seen as 'fun' or containing the community incentives that should also be shared with growth tech stocks).
Furthermore, the notion that the Great Online Game thrives on "community and cooperation over individualism and competition. You get points for being curious, sharing, and helping with no expectation of reciprocation" does not apply only to crypto, but could very well be applied across all types of investments (ala wallstreetbets and gamestop) - and the 'rewards' people get would be in the form of recognition, stock, returns. Tokens in terms of crypto is just simply another form of 'stock' in which people can gain returns, not necessarily because they believe in the project.
Nonetheless, thank you for kicking off a great thought experiment with this article, it would be interesting to see how the overall tech and crypto market develops over time.
This is retarded.
the Goat