How is life like a game?

Life, like many games, has multiple “players.”

In a multiplayer game, there is almost always competition among players. And that competition, on one level, is zero-sum: one can only win if another loses.

In many games, there is also cooperation within teams that compete with each other.

However, on a higher level, all games are acts of cooperation among all the players: even members of opposing teams. The players all voluntarily participate, and each player welcomes the participation of every other “playmate.” Moreover, this cooperative competition is positive-sum, because even the losers of the game “win” in the sense that they generally enjoy the game anyway.

What about competition and cooperation in life? For all life, there is what Ludwig von Mises calls “biological competition,” which is, “the rivalry between animals which manifests itself in their search for food.”

Biological competition is zero-sum. The predator cannot live except that its prey die, and the prey cannot live except that its predators go hungry. Moreover, the more that one living thing draws from a scarce natural source of sustenance, the less is available for other living things.

Tragically (and unnecessarily) humans also engage in biological competition, not only with the plants and animals it eats, but with each other through war and politics (which is war by other means).

Mises distinguishes “biological competition” from “social competition,” which is:

“…the striving of individuals to attain the most favorable position in the system of social cooperation. As there will always be positions which men value more highly than others, people will strive for them and try to outdo rivals. Social competition is consequently present in every conceivable mode of social organization.”

Like games, this kind of competition is, on one level, zero-sum. Between two rival bidders, only one can purchase any given item or service. And between two rival sellers (whether of wares or of labor), only one can walk away with the customer’s or employer’s money.

But also like games of leisure, competitive society is a positive-sum game in a larger sense.

Everyone benefits by “playing,” because the competition is over who is to cooperate with whom: the ultimate goal is always cooperation.

Moreover, the competition makes it more likely that the cooperative pairings are optimized. It incentivizes each “player” to strive to serve other “players” better in order to be served better in turn. And it creates a process of selection that guides players toward their most efficiently productive roles, both in terms of producing enjoyment for themselves and of producing service for others.

In a game of leisure, none of the playmates would have much fun if the other playmates did not strive to compete. Similarly, in the game of social life (especially the market), none of the members of society would fare very well if the other members did not strive to compete.