Love to everyone.
I wrote the email below to the writer of the book Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse. Here is the first paragraph of the book:
- There are at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.
And below is my message to him. If anyone on the Listserve wants to join in the infinite game with me, let me know.
Hello Mr. Carse,
I am writing to you because I have been reading your book Finite and Infinite Games. Suffice to say, it has come to me at the perfect time in my life. Your overall metaphor in the book is in some sense how I've always seen the world, but without being able to define it in such a distinct way. The notion of the infinite player is rooted deep within me. The infinite player could be anyone -- Oprah or a city sanitation worker -- but the players know one another intuitively, acknowledging each other with a smile and a glint in the eye. The finite games each of these infinite players are engaged in at the time they meet and connect are irrelevant, ultimately. They serve a temporary practical purpose, of course, but nothing more, in the end.
The task now in my opinion, at this crucial time in our country's history and the world's history, is for the infinite players to begin to start a broad network, a kind of movement. Within that movement, players can take part in existing finite games and invent new ones, such as building companies or writing books, but all with the understanding that they are ultimately working for the sole purpose of pulling more and more finite players into the infinite game.
I've realized for many years that this is my life's task, and your book has allowed me to put a specific set of words and terms around it, which is always good for clarity of vision. I am committed both to writing (fiction in my case) and to building a new type of media/knowledge platform (called CruxPts) where information and knowledge can be shared, collaborated on, and progressed. Both of these tasks I consider to be finite games only inasmuch as they need to be for practical purposes. The ultimate goal is to create works and platforms that end up extending well beyond what I or my partners can conceive of now, and hopefully become key parts of the movement to unite all players in the infinite game.
So, thank you deeply for your work. It has profoundly affected me. Hopefully we somehow get the chance to meet face to face at some point in the future.
Sincerely,
Steve Intlekofer
Baltimore, MD
[email protected]