A better game

Just because you are winning the game doesn’t mean it’s a good game.

-Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception

When Katniss volunteered as tribute so her sister, Primrose, wouldn’t have to go to the Hunger games, she knew from the outset what she would be getting into. She knew she needed to spare her sister from likely death by playing an almost unwinnable game.

The competition was contrived by a clever game maker, who could change the game in real time to adapt to the actions of the participants. If there was a lull in the action, he could stir things up. In order to stay alive, a player must not only be smart, but adaptable and ruthless. In order to beat the terrible game, they had to embrace the terrible side of themselves.

But, as you might already guess, just because somebody wins the game, doesn’t mean it’s a good game. Because winning the game isn’t just about the win. In order to win, a tribute would commit to irreversible change within themselves.

And this got me thinking…What games do we play, and how do they change us? What are we truly consenting to when we participate? Do we sometimes need to give up a portion of our humanity in order to perform better in a competition?

There are games being played every day, all around us. All societies have them. There are rules about who can play what and a which level. Sometimes winning is less about merit and more about how the system chooses its champions.  There are games around money, status, sex, attention, and the list goes on and on.

A popular one today is the social media algorithm game. The social media platform is the game maker; they set the rules and change them at will. One day, you are at the top, the next day, things have changed. The landscape looks different, and you must find another way to survive.

Sometimes, in order to survive, you consider taking actions that before might have seemed distasteful. If that’s the case, then the game is changing you.

As a creator myself, I have often wrestled with the idea of engaging in social media. Besides writing, I like to paint and create textile art. I have flirted with the idea of putting work “out there” on one of the many platforms available. Until I realized the type of game I would be playing.

As I did my research, I noticed a trend with the artists of Instagram. In the beginning, the game was a really good game for artists, allowing them to create meaningful work while connecting to the people who loved it. It allowed them to grow organically, finding others who were excited about their work.

Then, something happened. The game changed. The algorithm shifted. Artists were no longer playing a good game. They realized that they had to become content creators instead artists. They needed to play the game of a new algorithm instead of focusing on their main work.

This became a dividing line. Some artists found that they could work well in this new game, so they kept going. Some realized that time spent creating daily content meant less time, or no time, to create art.  The game was no longer worth winning.

What I’ve noticed about the winners of the social media game is that whether or not they are doing good work, they are just really good at the game in its current form. Whether or not their art is remarkable, because they know how to manipulate the game, it will be the only art to remark on. The algorithm isn’t actually going to show you the best work that is out there, its going to show you the work by people who are the best at playing the game.  

And in the world of creativity and ideas, this seems like a losing proposition for everyone. If continued to it’s logical endpoint, the only ones left standing will be artists with full-time social media managers, or algorithm specialists who occasionally dabble in art.  It’s a game I don’t want to play, and could never win if I did.

But what if we could envision a better game? One that doesn’t limit our freedom or happiness?

Katniss, for her part, had no choice but to engage in a very bad game. A couple of times. And she beat the game by thinking in the most outrageous way she could; by being more human. By asserting her free will. Her humanity. She beat the game, not by assimilating to it but by superseding it.

And I think the easiest work around to algorithms and the AI takeover of our lives is to simply step away. To assert our free will to not participate. To become more human. To reduce connectivity and amplify more community. In person, with actual humans. We know from research that this is the key to enduring happiness anyway.

I’m not saying to abandon every bit of potentially helpful technology, I just think that a little curation is in order. Thoughtful engagement rather than thoughtless wholesale buy-in. The platforms, when we use them in this way, are tools. When we acquiesce to their demands, we become a tool of the platform. And to me, that limits the potential for freedom and happiness.

We just need to play a better game.