9: All Limitations are Self-Limitations: Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse Made You Think

Every move that an infinite player makes is towards the horizon, and every move a finite player makes is within a boundary.
After reading Finite and Infinite Games, you’ll never see the world the same. This simple dichotomy, finite and infinite, will rethink how you see business, life, love, goals, friendships, play, war, and everything you come across. Once you learn to think about the horizon… there’s no going back.
We covered a wide range of topics in this discussion, including:
Improving your life with new perspectives Promoting personal growth by defining your boundaries and pushing past them Improving your motivation with the infinite mindset Finding the balance between over-working and contented leisure Consciousness and illusory experiences Insights into our relationship with nature And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Finite and Infinite Games!
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our episode on Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, to learn more about the negative impacts that technology has on us and on how to prevent these impacts. Also, be sure to listen to our episode on Mastery by Robert Greene, to learn how to become a master at your craft and improve your life.
Mentioned in the show:
Made You Think Cryptocurrency episode [0:22] Valve [27:57] Steam [28:07] Zappos [28:59] Wait But Why [31:16] Elon Musk’s Secret Sauce article [31:17] Fight Through the Suck article [33:25] Narrative Fallacy [34:12] Made You Think Antifragile episode [34:15] Made You Think The Power of Myth episode [39:15] The Philosophy of Mind [47:04] What it’s Like to Be a Bat paper [47:05] The Cartesian [48:58] All Natural Apple Meme [1:09:02] Made You Think Amusing Ourselves to Death episode [1:15:42] The Lincoln Douglas debates [1:15:42] Books mentioned:
Finite and Infinite Games The Red Book [19:05] Bhagavad Gita [21:45] (Nat’s Notes) The Way of Zen [21:48] (Nat’s Notes) Sapiens [22:36] (Nat’s Notes) Valve Employee Handbook [28:19] The Dip [32:43] (Nat’s Notes) Antifragile [34:15] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) The Snowball [36:40] The Power of Myth [39:15] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) The Quran [39:20] The Art of Seduction [55:50] (Nat’s Notes) The Game [55:52] (Nat’s Notes) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry [1:03:38] The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels [1:10:40] Amusing Ourselves to Death [1:15:42] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind [1:16:35] (Nat’s Notes) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up [1:26:00] (Nat’s Notes) 1984 [1:31:26] The Sovereign Individual [1:36:32] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Godel Escher Bach [1:36:34] People mentioned:
James P. Carse Taylor Pearson [0:19] Carl Jung [19:05] Bruce Lee [20:23] Plato [21:23] Seth Godin [32:43] Justin Mares [33:25] Nassim Nicholas Taleb [34:15] Warren Buffett [36:19] Kyrie Irving [38:27] Thomas Nagel [47:05] Descartes [48:58] Robert Greene [55:50] Neil Strauss [55:52] Neil DeGrasse Tyson [1:03:38] Elon Musk [1:14:04] Charles Darwin [1:15:37] 0:00 - Intro to the book’s discussion, a thesis quote from the book, and talking about the unique writing of the book.
2:48 - The difference between a finite and infinite game, some powerful lessons, and some real-world examples.
8:01 - The distinction between life or death games and some advice on finding the balance between working too much and being content with not working at all.
11:38 - Some more detail on the finite games, thoughts on the past nature that titles have, and thoughts on achieving your goals and accomplishing things.
18:08 - Our social nature, how that affects these games, and the collective consciousness.
20:43 - Ancient philosophy’s timeless nature and the wide range of influence that these philosophies have had. Also, thoughts on the development of various philosophies.
23:27 - Thoughts on war from the book and the author’s perspective on