Early in my career as a game theory-based business consultant and executive coach I was introduced to a concept known as the Peter Principle.
The Peter Principle. is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in any hierarchy tend to rise to their “level of incompetence”.
What he means here is that employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.
Peter and his co-authors intended the book to be satire, in time it became that Peter was really onto something serious.
Imagine an organization where a person reaches their level of incompetence and then trains new people in his/her department. Over time this pattern of incompetence spreads like a virus throughout the organization infecting middle management, lower-level employees, and possibly the executive suite. Of course, executives are focusing on the wrong area, the entire hierarchy may collapse below them, and they never saw it coming.
So as I said the Peter Principle states that a person who is competent at their job will earn promotion to a position that requires different skills. If the promoted person lacks the skills required for the new role, they will be incompetent at the new level, and will not be promoted again, unless their superior, is also incompetent, then they may be promoted again, and again.
This outcome is inevitable, given enough time and enough positions in the hierarchy to which competent employees may be promoted. The “Peter Principle” is therefore expressed as: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.” This leads to Peter’s Corollary: “In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.”
Examples of the Peter Principle in action would include Sears, Enron, and the 2009 world financial collapse.
Final Thought
In a world of analytics, it is easy to measure for incompetence. Unfortunately, maybe the people who have designed these analytics are themselves incompetent. Over time the best companies will adjust and grow, while the ones who ignore this issue will simply collapse.
Author: Lewis Harrison is an Independent Scholar, corporate consultant, and executive coach. He has a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, applied game theory, entrepreneurism, and problem-solving.
Sign up to receive my free newsletter and check out my website at AskLewisGameTheory.com
You can e-mail me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com and read all of my posts at LewisCoaches.Medium.com
Using strategic thinking and incentives to win the game of life.
Explained on the most basic level, Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game environments. The term non-game environment is often used to describe any human to human, or human to computer interactions that would not befit the definition of a recreational puzzle, a board or video game, or sports.
The term “Gamification” is said to have been coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling, a British computer programmer, and inventor who used the term when speaking of incentives offered in non-game environments including education, business, shopping in a supermarket, and dating.
Gamification is much more expansive than a way of thinking in a narrative context in which a gamified application can be embedded and contextualizes activities and characters in the game, and gives them meaning beyond the mere quest for points and achievements. A story can be communicated by a game’s complex storylines typical of contemporary role-playing video games (e.g., The Elder Scrolls Series), or simply by title (e.g., WarCraft). Narrative contexts can be oriented towards real, non-game contexts, or act as analogies of real-world settings. The latter can enrich boring, barely stimulating contexts, and consequently, inspire and motivate players particularly if the story is in line with their personal interests. As such, stories are also an important part in gamification applications; as they can alter the meaning of real-world activities by adding a narrative ‘overlay’, e.g., being hunted by zombies while jogging, or being protected by an angel-magician.
If you saw the movie or read the book– The Big Short, you could see the importance of gamification in finance, in this case, in real estate investing. In the affiliate marketing world, gamification in marketing and the application of algorithms has been key to success. Of course, there are philosophical musings about game theory and gamification, and then there is actionable gamification. They are clearly not the same. Of course, it is easier to teach these ideas to children than to adults. That is why, today we have gamification in learning, gamification apps, gamification in the classroom, and gamification tools like Kahoot. With these tools, the gamification of learning can make it easier for children to understand a concept and retain information related to what they have just learned.
Another approach to gamification is to make existing tasks feel more like games. Some techniques used in this approach include adding meaningful choices, onboarding with a tutorial, increasing challenge, and adding narrative. Game design elements are the basic building blocks of gamification applications and are often embedded in activities such as sports betting, fantasy sports, and other group-based social and competitive activities. Among these typical game design elements, are points, badges, leader-boards, performance graphs, meaningful stories, avatars, and teammates.
Gamification has been widely applied in marketing, especially in affiliate marketing; (please see the offers at the end of this page), something I am deeply involved in. Over 70% of Forbes Global 2000 companies surveyed back in 2013, said they planned to use gamification for the purposes of marketing and customer retention. For example, in November 2011, Australian broadcast and online media partnership Yahoo!, launched its Fango mobile app/SAP, which TV viewers use to interact with shows via techniques like check-ins and badges. Gamification has also been used in customer loyalty programs. In 2010, Starbucks gave custom Foursquare badges to people who checked in at multiple locations and offered discounts to people who checked in most frequently at an individual store. Gamification also has been used as a tool for customer engagement, and for encouraging desirable website usage behavior, which has been invaluable for affiliate marketers. Additionally, gamification is applicable to increasing engagement on sites built on social network services. On the programming question-and-answer site Stack Overflow, users receive points and/or badges for performing a variety of actions, including spreading links to questions and answers via Facebook and Twitter. A large number of different badges are available, and when a user’s reputation points exceed various thresholds, the user gains additional privileges, eventually including moderator privileges.
Gamification can be used for ideation (structured brainstorming to produce new ideas). A study at MIT Sloan found that ideation games helped participants generate more and better ideas, and compared it to gauging the influence of academic papers by the numbers of citations received in subsequent research.
Gamification commonly employs game design elements to improve user engagement, organizational productivity, flow, learning, crowdsourcing, employee recruitment and evaluation, ease of use, the usefulness of systems, physical exercise, bodystorming, traffic violations, voter apathy, and more. A collection of research on gamification shows that a majority of studies on gamification find it has positive effects on individuals. However, individual and contextual differences exist.
Takeaway
It is increasingly more difficult to attain business success without applying gamification incentives. What seems reasonable now will likely be useless to you in rapidly changing markets. A more profound way of thinking is required to succeed here. Gamification can meet the needs of many employees, that need more than a paycheck and a two-week vacation.
Author: Lewis Harrison is a practical philosopher, best-selling author, and successful businessman.
“I am the former host of a talk radio show on an NPR affiliated station in NY. I have a bottomless passion for the application of game theory in decision-making, problem-solving, and personal development. My game theory/business website is AskLewisGameTheory.com.
“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com”.
Ask Lewis About Game Theory
What is this Q & A series about? There are some things within strategic thinking and gamer psychology you really do…
www.asklewisgametheory.com
Here is a 15-minute video interview I did explaining the very basics of HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory). Learn more about game theory at AskLewisGameTheory.com
I offer advice on the arts, innovation, self-improvement, life lessons, mental health, game theory strategies, and love. LewisCoaches.Medium.com
WRITTEN BY
Lewiscoaches
I offer advice on the arts, innovation, self-improvement, life lessons, mental health, game theory strategies, and love. LewisCoaches.Medium.com
A cutting-edge approach to applying strategic thinking and incentives to win the game of life.
The term “Gamification” is said to have been coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling, a British computer programmer, and inventor.
Explained on the most basic level, Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game environments. The term non-game environment is often used to describe any human to human, or human to computer interactions that would not befit the definition of a recreational puzzle, a board or video game, or sports.
Non-game environments usually include education, business, shopping in a supermarket, and dating.
Why is Gamification so Important in the 21st Century?
When used skillfully, and effectively, gamification techniques can leverage people’s natural desires for socializing, learning, mastery, competition, achievement, status, self-expression, altruism, or closure. It may even influence their response to the framing of a situation as a game or play. Early gamification strategies use rewards for players who accomplished desired tasks or competition to engage players. Back then, types of rewards included points, achievement badges or levels, the filling of a progress bar, or providing the user with virtual currency. Making the rewards for accomplishing tasks visible to other players, or providing leader boards are ways of encouraging players to compete or in the best of environments, to collaborate.
One of the things that separate gamification as well as HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory from classical game theory is that while classical game theory, which is a foundation of much in modern economic theory focuses on rational and logical patterns of thought and behavior, gamification and HAGT tends to be more holistic. When I say Holistic I mean they create a space for strategizing and creating incentives based on intuition, counter-intuitive, and non-linear elements.
Within gamification models, one is likely to encounter game design elementsknown as Meaningful Stories. Meaningful Stories do not relate to the player’s performance as they might in a game-based model.
In gamification, teammates, whether they are other real players or virtual non-player characters, can induce conflict, competition, or cooperation. The latter can be fostered particularly by introducing teams, i.e., by creating defined groups of players that work together towards a shared objective.
Though those who developed the idea generally state that it is not directly tied to game theory, many of the concepts used in gamification are clearly modeled on ideas central to game theory. Essentially gamification is a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements. These elements may include metrics and algorithms.
Over the last few decades, there has been an increased interest in gamification in business.
Takeaway
It is increasingly more difficult to attain business success without gamification. What seems reasonable will be useless to you in rapidly changing markets. A more profound way of thinking is required to succeed here. Gamification can meet the needs of many employees, that need more than a paycheck and a two-week vacation.
Author: Lewis Harrison is a practical philosopher, best-selling author, and successful businessman.
“I am the former host of a talk radio show on an NPR affiliated station in NY. I have a bottomless passion for the application of game theory in decision-making, problem-solving, and personal development. My game theory/business website is AskLewisGameTheory.com.
“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com”.
Here is a 15-minute video interview I did explaining the very basics of HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory). Learn more about game theory at AskLewisGameTheory.com
I offer advice on the arts, innovation, self-improvement, life lessons, mental health, game theory strategies, and love. LewisCoaches.Medium.com
“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com”.
ooo
Here is a 15-minute video interview I did explaining the very basics of HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory). Learn more about game theory at AskLewisGameTheory.com
Contact me at: LewisCoaches@gmail (I promise to respond to you personally).
ooo
Part of human potential, personal improvement, and human potential is learning and using applied game theory. You can Become a Master of Applied Game Theory and Reduce Unnecessary Struggle in Your Life and Business through our Course
Harrison’s Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond
THE ASK LEWIS TEAM OFFERS ADVANCED COURSES ON LIFEHACKING, CRISIS MANAGEMENT, STRATEGIC THINKING, TROUBLESHOOTING, THE WORLD OF THE “FIXER, AND HOW TO WIN THE GAME OF LIFE READ MORE BELOW.
If you have an interest in becoming more efficient, effective, precise, and productive, explore our Master Classes, courses, and personalized/customized coaching program – “Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond 2.2.”.
Part of a series of short, sweet, and easy to follow Q & A on subjects related to Harrison’s Applied Game Theory (HAGT).
This is a 7 min read
What is this Q & A series about?
There are some things within strategic thinking and gamer psychology you really do need to know about but you weren’t aware of.
Once you do think about it, either there is nothing about it that you can read on Wikipedia, or so much complicated and jargony information that you can’t even begin to explore the subject.
This is where my team of data geniuses come in. We all have the same passion – using problem-solving, and trouble-shooting strategies drawn from HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory) to find solutions. Here we gather, organize, simplify, and share information to Medium readers in a basic Q & A format.
You can learn more about the Nobel Prize-winning idea of game theory at — AskLewisGameTheory.com
About Victim Mentality
#1 Q. What does it mean for an individual to have a victim mentality?
A. Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize or consider themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case in the face of contrary evidence of such circumstances. Victim mentality depends on clear thought processes and attribution. In some cases, those with a victim mentality have in fact been the victim of wrongdoing by others or have otherwise suffered misfortune through no fault of their own. However, such misfortune does not necessarily imply that one will respond by developing a pervasive and universal victim mentality where one frequently or constantly perceives oneself to be a victim.
The term “a victim mentality” is also used in reference to the tendency for blaming one’s misfortunes on somebody else’s misdeeds, which is also referred to as victimism.
Victim mentality is primarily developed, for example, from family members and situations during childhood. Similarly, criminals often engage in victim thinking, believing themselves to be moral and engaging in crime only as a reaction to an immoral world and furthermore feeling that authorities are unfairly singling them out for persecution.
#2 Q. Are there specific skill sets that can be used to distinguish those with victim thinking versus those or are actual victims such as a government or corporate whistleblower?
A. Transactional Analysis (TA) an integrative counseling theory based on game theory that has elements of psychoanalysis, humanist theory, and cognitive psychology. Approaches, first developed by Canadian-born US psychiatrist Eric
Berne, starting in the late 1950s. TA distinguishes real victims from those who adopt the role in bad faith, ignoring their own capacities to improve their situation.
The pioneering behavioral psychologist R.D. Lang stated that that “it will be difficult in practice to determine whether or to what extent a relationship is collusive” — when “the one person is predominantly the passive ‘victim’”, and when they are merely playing the victim.
#3 Q. It would seem that if a person truly sees themselves as a victim that this pattern would become integrated into their very being as a “reality”?
A. This is true. I speak of this in conversations within my writings on Applied Game Theory) especially concerning Regenerating Thought Processes and sense and cellular memory.
What happens is that the pattern of seeing oneself as a victim in most or all unpleasant situations is intensified once a pattern of victimization has been internalized, This is what occurs when a person finds his or herself in a double bind — some emotionally distressing dilemma in communication, in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, in which one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a response to one message appears as an ineffective or failed response to the other (and vice versa). In such a situation the person will automatically be wrong or ineffective regardless of response. Double binds appear when a person is unable to confront an inherent dilemma and thus is unable to resolve it or create an exit strategy.
#4 Q. Is there a way of exploring or studying these patterns?
A. There is a theory that explores Object relations. Here one explores the way possession by a false self can create a permanent sense of victimization- a sense of always being in the hands of an external fate. When addressing victim mentality in problem-solving scenarios there are a number of approaches that can also be explored. These include:
· Spiral of silence: Here one opinion in a group of individuals becomes dominant as those who perceive their opinion to be in the minority remain silent because they fear that they may be isolated or attacked by the group because of their opinion. Spiral of science is also known as political and mass communication theory, an idea propounded by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
· Somebody Else’s Problem: (also known as Someone Else’s Problem or SEP) is a mental/emotional action where individuals/groups of individuals choose to dissociate themselves from an issue that may be in critical need of recognition. A common metaphor for this behavior is the “Ostrich putting its head in the sand.”
#5 Q. How can one break this type of pattern?
A. It requires that one take responsibility for one’s own desires and long-term actions. This is not easy to do for a person with a long pattern of victim thinking. Since HAGT is focused on personal development one must approach this issue from this perspective. If the pattern is locked in through what is called “emotional baggage” then various approaches can be used. Among these is Inner Child work. Emotional release Bodywork, Homeopathy, and Energy Medicine, Guided Journal Writing such as has been developed by Ira Progoff and various forms of “Ruthless Introspection”.
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Takeaway
Change your attitude, Surrender your fear, and you can have a life of abundance and happiness.
If you have an interest in how and why I do what I do you may want to check out Harrison’s Applied Game Theory (HAGT).
HAGT is an umbrella term for thousands of systematic strategies that describe why and how individuals and organizations make decisions. This process involves more than just making wise choices. It is concerned with the effective organization of data and facts, predictive analytics, collaborative intelligence, self-love, serving others as well as ourselves and many other related ideas.
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Author: Lewis Harrison is an Independent Scholar with a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, and problem-solving. He is the creator of Harrison’s Applied Game Theory.
I was the kid in your school that the teacher implored to “focus more”. Instead, when I was sent to the back of the room for asking too many questions, I kept myself busy by memorizing all of the Encyclopedias on the back wall.
Lewis
You can read all of his Medium stories at Lewis.coaches@medium.com.
“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com”.
Lewis offers a customized and personalized Course to help you become Become more effective, efficient, productive, and self-aware. Study
Study Harrison’s Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond…2.2.
Read the information about the course below.
I offer advice on the arts, innovation, self-improvement, life lessons, mental health, game theory strategies, and love. LewisCoaches.Medium.com
Author: Lewis Harrison is a student of Zen and Taoist thought and is the Senior Teacher in the Wisdom Path Community, a social media group exploring the spiritual path in all its forms. He is a regular practitioner of meditation, contemplation, and ruthless self-assessment.
His website is AskLewis.com and he can be emailed directly at LewisCoaches@gmail.com
The best movies to watch this year for upgrading your gamer skills
(6 min read)
What Is Game Theory?
Game theory is the name used to describe logical and rational concepts (systems) that explain why and how individuals and organizations strategize — make choices and decisions when one or more individuals might also affect the outcome of the decision being made.
Game theory skills can be used to solve simple and very complex problems. Watching game theory-oriented films can give you the tips, tools, techniques, strategies, tactics, and hacks for winning at the game of life. If you have seen the movies The Big Short, Money Ball, and or A Beautiful Mind, you have seen game theory in action.
Here are these three and other films in a similar genre to help you to move forward in your life.
• A Beautiful Mind — A biographical film of the life of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. inspired by the book by Sylvia Nasar. Nash’s work and ideas are central to much of game theory. The film was acclaimed and won the best picture at the Academy Awards. It does take liberties with the facts of Nash’s life. It is the film that piqued my interest in game theory and game thinking
• In the Name of the Father — Set in the “Troubles” in the North of Ireland, it illustrates the Prisoner’s Dilemma*.
• Rebel Without a Cause — Presents the “Chicken Game.*
• Dr. Strangeloveor: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb — One of the best films representing The Hawk-Dove Game*. The director of the film, Stanley Kubrick, read an article by Noble Prize-winning Game Theorist Thomas Schelling that included a description of the Peter George novel Red Alert, and conversations between Kubrick, Schelling, and George eventually led to the 1964 movie. The film is one of the best cinematic illustrations of various concepts in Game Theory.
• Reservoir Dogs — One of the best films illustrating a Truel* meaning a duel or competition among three opponents, in which players can fire on or attempt to eliminate one another while surviving themselves.
• The Warriors — A film illustrating The Stag Hunt Game*.
• Waking Ned (Also known as Waking Ned Devine) — One of the best movies showing The Ultimatum Game*.
• Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan — Explores the Kobayashi Maru (a Lose-Lose Game*) used among Star Trek fans to describe a no-win scenario, a test of one’s character or a solution that involves redefining the problem and managing an impossible situation gracefully. This is one of the best films illustrating a Lose-Lose Game*.
• Donnie Darko — A bit more complicated than other films, this one integrates elements of a specific type of lose-lose situation called a Catch 22*. It also includes aspects of Quantum Game Theory*.
• Sophie’s Choice — This is a problematic situation, known as a Cornelian Dilemma* (CD), essentially a lose-lose game. This is a situation in which the player is forced to choose between two courses of action. Each is mutually exclusive and will cause a negative consequence on the player or someone close.
• The Dark Knight — One of the best films illustrating plot devices using classic game theory. The game-based plot devices included are the prisoner’s dilemma, the cornelian dilemma, and The Pirate Game*. The Pirate Game is a more sophisticated version of the Ultimatum Game*.
• The Usual Suspects — This entire film is a simple game structure piled high with layers of deceit, twists, cheating, cognitive biases if every variety, and violence before pulling out the rug from underneath when we learn that the payoff* wasn’t what we expected — A zero-sum, simultaneous, imperfect information game.
•Eye in the Sky: This 2015 military game theory thriller explores mixed strategies, decision-making, and the ethical challenges of drone warfare. A multinational team, works on the capture mission against terrorists in Nairobi. The group, which are linked together by video and voice systems, debate different strategies designed to achieve a goal while reducing collateral damage. As a decision finally realized some variable in the game space changes requiring new discussion on the best course of action and who needs to make the final decision on acting against the terrorists, knowing that no matter what, there will be some collateral damage.
• House of Games — A heist–thriller film built around many different elements of game theory. It features mid games, gambling, and con men. One of the treats is that its cast includes Ricky Jay, one of the world’s greatest magicians.
•The Spanish Prisoner — This neo-noir suspense film. The film is premised around a story of corporate espionage conducted through an elaborate confidence game. In spite of the film’s title, the actual plot includes only superficial similarities to the Spanish Prisoner* scam though there is, nonetheless much gamer-thinking.
• The Game — An American mysterythriller about a wealthy investment banker who is given a mysterious gift-the chance to participate in a complex Life Game. As the lines between the banker’s real life and the game become more uncertain it all takes on a surreal quality.
• The Last Casino— Loosely based on the activities of the MIT Blackjack Team. Three students and a professor use a counting cards* technique to “beat” a Casino in Canada.
• The Imitation game –A somewhat inaccurate American historical drama based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges (which was previously adapted as the stage play and BBC drama Breaking the Code). It explores the real-life British cryptanalystAlan Turing, a gay man who was destroyed by the government he may have helped save.
To be specific, Turing de-crypted German intelligence codes for the British government during the Second World War and is considered by many to be the “father” of the modern computer.
• Crazy Rich Asians — In this game-theorybased comedy, an Asian-American economics professor must use game theory
to outwit, wealthy, adversarial zero-sum players to outwit outdated Chinese tradition, hierarchy, n competitiveness, to find romance, love, and happiness.
• Molly’s Game — Based on the real-life experiences of Molly Bloom, a former world-class skier who ran the most exclusive, high-end poker game in the world for over a decade. It is one of the purest applied game theory films ever made. Every flawed move here has significant consequences. The right to life plot includes; A-listers, Hollywood Stars, the Russian Mafia, the Jersey Mob, the IRS, the FBI, and that’s just for starters.
• Searching for Sugar Man — This 2012 documentary film of a South African cultural phenomenon. It details the efforts of two Cape Town fans in the late 1990s to find out whether the rumored death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true, and if not, to discover what had become of him. Rodriguez’s music, which had virtually no success in the United States, was more popular in South Africa than Elvis. Yet, little was known about him in that country.
• The Boxer — The plot is built around the ending of the troubles in Northern Ireland. It explores the dynamics of a win-lose game player who has chosen to become a win-win player. The challenge is that he must now contend with those still committed to a win-lose scenario, and violently so.
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Author: Lewis Harrison is an Independent Scholar and a Results-Oriented Success Coach. He has a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, and problem-solving. He is the creator of Harrison’s Applied Game Theory.
You can read all of Lewis’s Medium stories at Lewis.coaches@medium.com.
“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com” or check out my courses and website at www.asklewisgametheory.com
How to Become a Master Strategist and Fulfill Your Potential through Self-awareness. ( 3 min read)
Self-evaluation is the process by which our sense of self is explored, and when needed, modified. The desire for self-improvement is a strong motivation to self-evaluate and is central to personal development, self-improvement, and self-awareness.
Self-improvement motivations influence the ways in which we select self-relevant information, gauge its importance, draw inferences about ourselves, and make plans for the future.
Experientially-oriented researchers have identified and investigated 3 cardinal self-evaluation motives (or self-motives) relevant to the development, maintenance, and modification of our beliefs concerning ourselves. These are:
Self-Enhancement,
Self-assessment,
Self-Verification
Let’s explore each.
Self-Enhancement: With this motivation, there is a desire to improve the positivity of one’s sense of self, and to protect the self from negative influences. This motive influences people to engage in self-evaluation.
For instance, people process information important to the self in a selective manner, focusing on information that has favorable implications to the self and discarding information with unfavorable implications. People also choose to compare themselves socially to others so as to have greater status and to be placed in a favorable position. By doing this, people seek to boost the (self-evaluated) positivity of themselves or to decrease its negativity. This enables them to increase their levels of self-esteem with the aim of having others see them as more socially desirable.
Self-Assessment: The Self-assessment motive is based on the assumption that people want to have an accurate and objective evaluation of themselves. To achieve this goal, they work so as to reduce any uncertainty about their abilities or personality traits. Feedback is sought to increase the accuracy and objectivity of previously formed self-conceptions. This is regardless of whether the new information confirms or challenges the previously existing self-conceptions.
Self-assessment is one of the motives that drive self-evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement. Many personal growth experts believe that a self-assessment motive will prompt people to seek information to confirm their uncertain self-concept rather than their certain self-concept. At the same time, people can use self-assessment to enhance the certainty of their own self-knowledge.
Still one must always keep in mind that the self-assessment motive could be seen as quite different from other self-evaluation motives. Unlike other motives, through self-assessment people are interested in the accuracy of their current self-view, rather than improving their self-view. This makes self-assessment a self-evaluative motive, and one of the few motives that may cause a person’s self-esteem to be damaged.
Self-Verification: Here the motive asserts that what motivates people to engage in the self-evaluation process is the desire to verify their pre-existing self-conceptions, maintaining consistency between their previously formed self-conceptions and any new information that could be important to the self (feedback). By doing this, people get a sense of control and predictability in the social world.
Takeaway
Research has shown self-assessment to be an extremely important tool for self-improvement and personal development. There are, of course, a wide variety of techniques and mechanisms through which learners describe (i.e., assess) and possibly evaluate the qualities of their own learning and growth processes).
One thing is clear — without some form of self-evaluation, there is no moving forward in life.
Author: Lewis Harrison is a student of Zen and Taoist thought and is the Senior Teacher in the Wisdom Path Community, a social media group exploring the spiritual path in all its forms. He is a regular practitioner of meditation, contemplation, and ruthless self-assessment.
His website is AskLewis.com and he can be emailed directly at LewisCoaches@gmail.com
HAGT is an anagram for Harrison’s Applied Game Theory…
…To understand how HAGT works you need to understand how game theory works.
Among scientists, game theory is the name used to describe systematic concepts that were designed to explain why and how individuals and organizations strategize, i.e. make decisions when one person (or more than one other person) might also affect the outcome of the decision. This concept is so important that researchers in the field have won dozens of Nobel Prizes including the two awarded this year
Today, (2020) game theory has become an umbrella term or ‘unified field’ theory for thousands of games, most being rational approaches to many different defined interactions including relationships in business, spirituality, competition, sports, romance and even interactions with nonhuman players such as computers, animals, and plants.
#17
Another way of describing game theory is the observation of a set of ideas and numbers that describe the past, present, or future state of something particularly strategic interactions between two or more individuals or groups (players) in a situation containing set rules and outcomes. Gamer theory used in a number of disciplines and can be applied to make individual choices in everyday life. The theory has most notably used as a tool within the study of economics, particularly in politics, sports, and international affairs. The economic application of game theory can be a valuable tool to aid in the fundamental analysis of industries, sectors, and any strategic interaction between two or more firms or individuals who need to strategize to create maximum benefit at the lowest possible cost.
How is game theory connected to happiness? Happiness can mean different things to different people. What game theory, especially my approach, known as Harrison’s Applied Game Theory (HAGT) can do is, reduce the ways in which people suffer.
Suffering is disruptive and at times necessary mental, emotional, psychological, and also a spiritual experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. On the positive side, suffering can contribute to how you organize meaning in your emotional world and much more. One should never assume that all suffering is negative. The key is to understand which suffering is essential and which is a self-created illusion.
Some suffering is an expression of natural law — an essential tool for survival. For the unaware individual, it is often a negative experience, especially if this individual has made poor choices in the past.
#21
Compassion, one of the most worthy, and admired human qualities; often comes from recognizing the suffering of others. Their suffering may present great meaning and direction to your own life, motivating, and also inspiring you to serve others in need. This service, in turn, creates a larger sense of community.
What determines how intense your suffering is or will be? The origin and cause of suffering; its processes, the meaning it presents to the individual who seems to be suffering; it’s related social, personal, and cultural behaviors; the knowledge of how to manage, reduce, or eliminate the suffering; and the benefits one might accrue for having suffered will all influence the intensity of that suffering. Add to this the frequency of each occurrence, plus the concurrence of mental, emotional, psychological, and also spiritual factors involved. Now by combining these with the duration of the suffering, and you have a wide range of experiences related to suffering.
If you are to understand the meaning of your life it is essential that you explore how and why you suffer.
The Meaning of Life
All human suffering, whether necessary or self-created, is tied to obstacles that have meaning for us. Such an obstacle
may be associated with some physical or psychological discomfort, or spiritually speaking, from the “pain of longing” — the seeking of something deeper than the world of form. Who can say what it might be?
Transcending obstacles defines much of what goes on in life. Think about it. It is likely that you function day to day on “automatic pilot,” then suddenly you experience a usually unexpected obstacle. Now, this obstacle might be walking up the steps of a non-functioning escalator, or waiting in a long line at the post office. It may be something equally annoying like a sudden red light that causes you to hit the brakes on your car. These types of challenges are what get your attention.
When things, events, or people limit your freedom, these “obstacles” take on meaning. We are also often drawn to things of great beauty, sensuality, and elegance. These things also have meaning. So as you can see, to notice something, positive or negative is to give it meaning.
What does it mean for something to have meaning? This is an important question. Many great thinkers have proposed that all meaning is based on your perception as well as shifts in your perception.
Many of us go through life unconsciously. We each decide arbitrarily that some things are important while others are not. Something might have meaning now that did not have any meaning just a few moments ago.
Does ‘meaning’ have to have a particular quality or quantity to it? Will any sense of meaning do? How would you even know if something had more than a superficial meaning? What’s the link between meaning and significance in daily action? If something has meaning for you, does it have ‘meaning’ because it reinforces your sense of being — or is something deeper going on? Is meaning anything more than what grabs your attention?
Your answers to these questions about the “meaning of life” may have great implications for how you think, make choices, use language, and communicate with others in the process of daily living. Without this inquiry, you may be destined to a life of confusion or intellectual, emotional, and spiritual numbness.
What Harrison’s Applied Game Theory does is offer a person the ability to be more effective, efficient, precise, productive, and self-aware. It also gives creative and innovative thinkers the opportunity to create greater meaning in their life by making a measurable difference in the world.
So I did applied game theory become the center of my life?
In 2002 I saw the movie A Beautiful Mind about Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash. Nash was a pioneer in the development of Game Theory. This story is not about Nash or the movie. It is about the door that opened in my mind’s eye after seeing the film.
The subject of this particular story is actually not a human being, it is a concept – applied game theory. Please note that I am not a mathematician and I am not an academic and I am not a computer scientist. I’m just a regular person trying to make the best of my life as most of us are.
After seeing a Beautiful Mind it became obvious to me that everything in life, as is often said is a “game”. That is a common cliché, winning the game of life, yet, what does that exactly mean?
For me, it means that except for a few things such as the hunger to learn of spiritual things, the nature of art, the exploration of truth, understanding philosophy, making sense of our emotions, and the experience of culture, everything in life really is a game.
In practical terms that means that in a world made up of people, places, and things there’s always a playing field, a board, or a game space of some type. The game might be a video game, your job, your family, or your friendships. You can’t have a game without a game space, whether a conceptual environment (a political party) or an actual playing field or board as in football, chess, or track and field.
All games will have players, and in applied game theory, there must be at least two players (sometimes the other player is a computer algorithm). If a game has many players and is highly competitive, there will usually also be cheaters. Here, cheaters are players (often called “agents”) who know that they are not going to win the game playing by the rules. These players intentionally break the rules knowing that they will be caught. It is a type of strategy. They calculate that the benefits they will gain from cheating will be greater than the cost of any penalty they might receive for cheating.
If a person is to win at the game of life, they must have an endgame. An endgame here is what a person wishes to achieve at the end of a specific process (game). Is it wealth, a great marriage, a nice home, to become a philanthropist, to experience spiritual fulfillment? So what are the markings of a game? Every game, in order to be a game, must have a game space, rules of engagement, players, referees, penalties for cheating, and a definition of what winning means (the end-game).
Once a person realizes that life really is a game, specific changes will take place in their way of thinking.
By Martin Mark
To begin with, winning and knowing when you have won becomes essential in the process. To win, does not mean everyone else has to lose. There are win-win games where all the players get to win. However, when placed in situations where other people insist on playing a strategy where only they win and everybody else needs to lose, the skilled gamer not only knows how to outwit their adversary but can even convert their adversaries’ point of view so that everyone benefits.
Ultimately, when a person sees their life as part of a larger game they are likely to develop a greater interest and intention to be more effective, efficient, precise, productive, and self-aware (EEPPSA).
So each of us has a choice to make. Do we want to live our lives without much thought, simply surviving and maybe prospering if we get lucky? Or do we want to have an intention and look at each moment mindfully, recognizing that with game thinking at our base we can maximize our potential at the lowest possible cost? With this line of thinking, we can also help others to win, making the world a better place?
In this complex, multi-layered game, we call “life”, living through cognitive biases, logical fallacies, Fake News, and so-called “alternative facts” just won’t work.
The game of life
In order to survive and prosper, even the most simple and common person will need to understand some basic ideas. These are ideas that can be understood by a 9th Grader. Even an individual who has played Tic-tac-toe, Rock-paper-scissors, checkers, chess, ping-pong, or any team sport can follow this line of thought to solve problems.
At the next level…
There are more sophisticated and advanced ideas which any high-school student would be familiar with that can be applied to solve problems and for “winning the game of life”. Ideas that include Murphy’s Law, worst-case scenarios, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, critical thinking, pattern language, probabilities, etc. These are the types of ideas players often use in poker, sports betting, or in applying common sense to solve a problem. Those who can do this and do it well will prosper and survive better than those who don’t.
“the person who refuses to learn about applied game theory in the game of life will be eaten by those who do”.
Why do I say this? Because often, in life, those who know gamer thinking may not always be ethical, moral, or even have your best interests at heart. It is important to be able to see trouble coming and have the ability, strategies, and tactics to address these challenges.
In Conclusion
The takeaway here is to recognize your life is a game, recognize you are a player in that game, and that all the people around you, whether they know it or not, are also players in that game. When you play, play to win. If you are a truly extraordinary player, a true visionary, play for everyone to win!
ooo
About the Author: Lewis Harrison teaches and Coaches individuals and organizations about using Applied Game Theory to become more efficient, effective, and productive. Contact him at Lewiscoaches@gmail.com
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Most of my blogs are anchored into the concept of Applied Game Theory. This idea explores how and why people make certain choices, including decisions related to their health, well-being, personal success, and self-awareness.
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Researchers in game theory have won over twenty Noble Prizes.
Learn more about the powerful tool of applied game theory for self-improvement, personal development, and strategic life skills.
Applying all of the gaming skills you have learned from the sandbox, through Rubick’s Cube, and now into video games and sports will change your life in every way, for the better.
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Among scientists, it is the name used to describe systematic concepts that were designed to explain why and how individuals and organizations strategize, i.e. make decisions when one person (or more than one other person) might also affect the outcome of the decision. This concept is so important that researchers in the field have won dozens of Nobel Prizes including the two awarded this year
Today, (2020) game theory has become an umbrella term or ‘unified field’ theory for thousands of games, most being rational approaches to many different defined interactions including relationships in business, spirituality, competition, sports, romance and even interactions with nonhuman players such as computers, animals, and plants.
#17
Another way of describing game theory is as the observation of a set of ideas and numbers that describe the past, present, or future state of something particularly strategic interactions between two or more individuals or groups (players) in a situation containing set rules and outcomes. Gamer theory used in a number of disciplines and can be applied to make individual choices in everday life. The theory has most notably used as a tool within the study of economics, particularly in politics, sports and international affairs. The economic application of game theory can be a valuable tool to aide in the fundamental analysis of industries, sectors and any strategic interaction between two or more firms or individuals who need to strategize to create maximum benefit at the lowest possible cost.
How is game theory connected to happiness? Happiness can mean different things to different people. What game theory, especially my approach, known as Harrison’s Applied Game Theory (HAGT) can do is, reduce the ways in which people suffer.
Suffering is disruptive and at times necessary mental, emotional, psychological, and also a spiritual experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. On the positive side, suffering can contribute to how you organize meaning in your emotional world and much more. One should never assume that all suffering is negative. The key is to understand which suffering is essential and which is a self-created illusion.
Some suffering is an expression of natural law — an essential tool for survival. For the unaware individual, it is often a negative experience, especially if this individual has made poor choices in the past.
#21
Compassion, one of the most worthy, and admired of human qualities; often comes from recognizing the suffering of others. Their suffering may present great meaning and direction to your own life, motivating and also inspiring you to serve others in need. This service, in turn, creates a larger sense of community.
What determines how intense your suffering is or will be? The origin and cause of suffering; its processes, the meaning it presents to the individual who seems to be suffering; its related social, personal, and cultural behaviors; the knowledge of how to manage, reduce or eliminate the suffering; and the benefits one might accrue for having suffered will all influence the intensity of that suffering. Add to this the frequency of each occurrence, plus the concurrence of mental, emotional, psychological, and also spiritual factors involved. Now by combining these with the duration of the suffering, and you have a wide range of experiences related to suffering.
If you are to understand the meaning of your life it is essential that you explore how and why you suffer.
The Meaning of Life
All human suffering, whether necessary or self-created, is tied to obstacles that have meaning for us. Such an obstacle
may be associated with some physical or psychological discomfort, or spiritually speaking, from the “pain of longing” — the seeking of something deeper than the world of form. Who can say what it might be?
Transcending obstacles defines much of what goes on in life. Think about it. It is likely that you function day to day on “automatic pilot,” then suddenly you experience a usually unexpected obstacle. Now, this obstacle might be walking up the steps of a non-functioning escalator, or waiting in a long line at the post office. It may be something equally annoying like a sudden red light that causes you to hit the brakes on your car. These types of challenges are what get your attention.
When things, events, or people limit your freedom, these “obstacles” take on meaning. We are also often drawn to things of great beauty, sensuality, and elegance. These things also have meaning. So as you can see, to notice something, positive or negative is to give it meaning.
What does it mean for something to have meaning? This is an important question. Many great thinkers have proposed that all meaning is based on your perception as well as shifts in your perception.
Many of us go through life unconsciously. We each decide arbitrarily that some things are important while others are not. Something might have meaning now that did not have any meaning just a few moments ago.
Does ‘meaning’ have to have a particular quality or quantity to it? Will any sense of meaning do? How would you even know if something had more than a superficial meaning? What’s the link between meaning and significance in daily action? If something has meaning for you, does it have ‘meaning’ because it reinforces your sense of being — or is something deeper going on? Is meaning anything more than what grabs your attention?
Your answers to these questions about the “meaning of life” may have great implications for how you think, make choices, use language, and communicate with others in the process of daily living. Without this inquiry, you may be destined to a life of confusion or intellectual, emotional, and spiritual numbness.
What Harrison’s Applied Game Theory does is offer a person the ability to be more effective, efficient, precise, productive, and self-aware. It also gives creative and innovative thinkers the opportunity to create greater meaning in their life by making a measurable difference in the world.
Lewis Harrison: Teaches and Coaches using Applied Game Theory
Watch My Youtube — for more kick @ videos to take your life and business to the next level… asklewis/lewis harrison game theory #1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lzIPU0DSiU&t=87s)
Listen To My Personal Development Podcast — to get just ONE idea a day that will add additional knowledge, wisdom, as well as zeros to your profit line. What is Personal Development — AskLewis Self Improvement Tips #1
A worst-case scenario is a concept in risk management wherein a decision-maker, in planning for potential disasters, considers the most severe possible outcome that can reasonably be projected to occur in a given situation. In life, we are constantly placed in situations where we must make decisions, and some of these conditions may lead to worst-case scenarios.
How can we prevent this from happening? The solution to this dilemma is called Harrison’s Applied Game Theory (HAGT). HAGT is based on the multiple Nobel-Prizing ideas of game theory. In game theory, a person or group uses rational thinking to make a decision that will benefit them, or enable them to win”. This win happens irrespective of what other variables are in place, or what other people in the same scenario may do.
I created HAGT in 2003 because it was clear to me, as a magician, hypnotist, and stage mentalist, that most humans do not act rationally. Rather they present irrational ideas and biases to others in ways that make these ideas seem rational, though they are not rational at all.
A game theory strategist is also a futurist. They know not only short-term strategies but also the long game. To win, it is essential that they use effective, efficient, and precise, long game tactics. In order for us to achieve these same results, we need to see the consequences that will result from any particular applied strategy. If this is not done we might end up with negative unforeseen consequences, known in HAGT and as “perverse incentives”.
Let’s explore perverse incentives in greater detail and as it is understood through the lens of gamer thinking, and gamer psychology. Stated simply a perverse incentive is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result. In other words, the results are contrary to the intentions of the strategist or decision-maker. Here are a few examples of noted perverse incentives.
· In Hanoi, under French colonial rule, a program paying people a bounty for each rat tail handed in was intended to exterminate rats. Instead, it led to the farming of rats.
· Paying medical professionals and reimbursing insured patients for treatment but not prevention encourages medical conditions to be ignored until treatment is required. Also, paying only for treatment effectively discourages prevention (which would reduce the demand for future treatments and would also improve the quality of life for the patient). Payment for treatment also generates a perverse incentive for unnecessary treatments which could be harmful, for example in the form of side effects of drugs and surgery. These side effects themselves can then trigger the demand for further treatments.
· Though I am in favor of it, there is no doubt that The Endangered Species Act in the US imposes development restrictions on landowners who find endangered species on their property. While this policy is well-intentioned and has some positive effects for wildlife, it also encourages preemptive habitat destruction (draining swamps or cutting down trees that might host valuable species) by landowners who fear losing the use of their land because of the presence of an endangered species. In some cases, endangered species may even be deliberately killed to avoid discovery. Similarly, if the fine or other penalties for committing environmental damage is perceived as less burdensome than the cost of preventing the damage in the first place, an individual or company may not place safeguards in place and simply pay the penalty if the damage occurs.
So how can we transcend perverse incentives, or avoid getting snared in that unpleasant game?
There are a number of factors that can lead to these negative unintended consequences and worse-case scenarios.
1. Defective incentives — These are benefits that though well-intentioned do not serve that purpose.
2. Offering individual types of benefits that might cause them to intentionally reduce their performance. In such a scenario they might continue to receive those benefits even though they offer lower quality performance.
3. Unbalanced or distorted compensation metrics: This is a scenario where a flawed system of measuring the benefits offered to a person or group is not balanced against the revenue, profits, or other benefits the person or group receiving the incentive produces.
Often when we make a decision, we may need to expend a resource such as time, space, information, or money to complete the process successfully. The ability to replenish these resources generally reflects the wisdom of that decision. Many a game theory strategist has won many a battle but lost the war because of the loss of resources.
However, if a decision-maker focuses exclusively on resources two problems may arise:
1. Maintaining or increasing moderate resources while competing may cause a decision-maker to ineffectively focus on over-investment of time and energy in growing more resources. This can lead to a winning strategy that produces weak or deteriorating returns.
2. If a game theory strategist or decision-maker focuses on maintaining or enhancing already high levels of stored and accessible resources, they may be encouraged to hold back on taking strategic action out of fear that doing so may dilute those resources.
This resource problem happened often in the record industry in the 1950 -1980s. A small company might suddenly have an unexpected hit record and yet went out of business. This perverse incentive occurred because the record company did not have the money to produce the record for sale to the millions of buyers who wanted it.
Obviously, incentives, even those based on metrics, and probability statistics have potential downsides that can undermine success.
Experts on perverse incentives tend to recommend that any skilled game theory strategist needs to focus on the long rather than the short game. This is because a skilled strategist can manage each metric. They also can choose which metrics to leverage. This of course will be done at the expense of the rest. This takes place when it becomes obvious that some metrics will be productive and others will not. If you enjoyed this article I thank you for any…
Author: My name is Lewis Harrison. I am a practical philosopher and independent scholar in the area of gamer psychology, personal improvement, and problem-solving.
I invite you to read, my regular blogs on game theory, and lifehacking and follow my posts and vlogs throughout the social network:
§ Contact me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com (I promise to respond to you personally).
We offer a customized and personalize Course in Harrison’s and Holistic Applied Game Theory: Become more effective, efficient, productive, innovative, and self-aware.
Study Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond…2.2.
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Q. Lewis, where do you get the information you need to create winning game-based strategies?
A. Many game theorists ask how I access so much information across so many disciplines and fields of exploration. I answer, that my research, sourcing, and process has been developing for over forty years.
Now, before I answer your question it might be helpful if we begin with a short introduction to the basics of game theory. Below is an article (a 6-minute read) as well as a more in-depth video embedded in the article. Both were created so they would be understood by 12-year-old.
A. Now to answer your question. A. I have been a student and teacher in the human potential, personal development, and self-help movements for over fifty years. It as brought me plenty of laughs, joy, playfulness, and introspection
I am always amused and intrigued by those of my peers that like to claim that all problems are simply the product of negative thinking.
“These are either truly extraordinary people or superficial thinkers with no sense of empathy or compassion for others”.
I imagine that if one can live in the state that Zen teachers call “Beginner’s Mind”, then there really are no problems, there is only, what “Is”! For those with a deep authentic faith in God, there are also no problems. One can simply say “it is God’s will” or “it is Karma” or “it is all grace” and just live with whatever happens.
By Brew Books
Of course, many of us do not fit into any of these categories. We may even aspire to do so but the reality (or the illusion) of our lives doesn’t allow this. Our parent dies and we not only grieve but also see the loss of this loved one as a problem. We care about our job and feel it is a problem when we feel we are underpaid or have been terminated unfairly. Deeply caring people feel it is a problem when poor people are kept in poverty or are victimized by circumstances beyond their control. Political conservatives often proclaim that “big Government” is a problem, and progressive liberals often believe rich people paying little or no taxes is a problem. The truth is that our own limited thinking is the problem. The rest of us need to jump into the game.
I soon came to understand that life is about knowing we have obstacles to transcend or overcome. As a monk, I could simply meditate and contemplate. In the world, I soon saw that I would need to meditate, contemplate, and strategize. Whether we call it a problem or an opportunity to learn something and grow from the experience is irrelevant. Whatever our attitude may be about the challenge it is nonetheless a challenge. If we are spiritually-focused or are so detached from the affairs of the world that nothing really seems to matter then game theory can do nothing for us. If we are arrogant, irrational, drowning in our own cognitive biases and logical fallacies we will slide into a life of struggle and suffering.
By Day Dream
The Takeaway
Knowledge is power. In life, it best to create a long-term goal or vision using facts, not just opinions . Once we have done that we can use HAGT (Harrison’s Applied Game Theory) and gamer-psychology to strategize effectively while maximizing our potential at the lowest possible cost.
I invite you to read, my regular blogs on game theory, and lifehacking and follow my posts and vlogs throughout the social network:
§ Contact me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com (I promise to respond to you personally).
We offer a customized and personalize Course in Harrison’s and Holistic Applied Game Theory: Become more effective, efficient, productive, innovative, and self-aware.
Study Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond…2.2.
Click on this URL link below and explore the course
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If you have an interest in becoming more efficient, effective, precise, and productive, explore our Master Classes, courses, and personalized/customized coaching program – “Applied Game Theory A-Z and Beyond 2.2.”.
