The Infinite Game | Jake Haber

Check out Jake's talk on the Infinite Game - a concept from James P. Carse and popularized by Simon Sinek - which gives us a framework to evaluate our own approach towards life. We explore everything from relationships & careers to the environment & class inequality. 

Quotes: 

Rob Bell:

“We’re all endlessly figuring it out because Spirit keeps doing something new. We can fight this, resist this, dig in our heels, wish things were the way they used to be, or we can embrace it. We can choose to see it with fear and frustration, or we can see it as thrilling and invigorating."

James P. Carse:

"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." 

"The finite play for life is serious; the infinite play of life is joyous."

Tao Te Ching V. 38:

"The Master concerns themself with the depths and not the surface,
with the fruit and not the flower… They dwell in reality, and let all illusions go."

Simon Sinek: 

“An infinite mindset embraces abundance whereas a finite mindset operates with a scarcity mentality. In the Infinite Game we accept that “being the best” is a fool’s errand and that multiple players can do well at the same time.” ....“To ask, “What’s best for me” is finite thinking. To ask, “What’s best for us” is infinite thinking.” 

Richard Rohr: 

“Love, which might be called the attraction of all things toward all things, is a universal language and underlying energy that keeps showing itself despite our best efforts to resist it. It is so simple that it is hard to teach in words, yet we all know it when we see it. After all, there is not a Native, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Islamic, or Christian way of loving. There is not a Methodist, Lutheran, or Orthodox way of running a soup kitchen. There is not a gay or straight way of being faithful, nor a Black or Caucasian way of hoping. We all know positive flow when we see it, and we all know resistance and coldness when we feel it. All the rest are mere labels.”

James P. Carse: 

"There is but one infinite game"

Discussion Questions:

What are some “rules of life” that you have played by, consciously or unconsciously?

If you are the “Perpetual Stew”, what are some ingredients that have been removed or added?