finite_infinite_games_james_p_carse.md (1465B)
1 2 # Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse 3 4 It is an invariable principle of all play, 5 finite and infinite, 6 that whoever plays, plays freely. 7 Whoever _must_ play, cannot _play_. 8 9 * p. 56 10 11 12 _Note_: 13 This is reason enough for removing "necessity" 14 by whatever means necessary---the idea of need, 15 financial need (Money Mustache), 16 caloric need (fasting), 17 even moral need (skillful means, _Veni, Sancte Spiritus_). 18 19 --- 20 21 Therefore, poets do not "fit" into society, 22 not because a place is denied them 23 but because they do not take their "places" seriously. 24 They openly see its roles as theatrical, 25 its styles as poses, its clothing costumes, 26 its rules conventional, its crises arranged, 27 its conflicts performed, and its metaphysics ideological. 28 29 * p. 56 30 31 --- 32 33 Society is... an attempt to forget 34 that we have willfully forgotten 35 our decision to enter this or that contest and to continue in it. 36 37 * p. 41 38 39 --- 40 41 The joyfulness of infinite play, 42 its laughter, 43 lies in learning to start something we cannot finish. 44 45 * Section 24 46 47 --- 48 49 Death in life can be regarded as an achievement, 50 the result of a spiritual discipline, say, 51 intended to extinguish all traces of struggle with the world, 52 a liberation from the need for any title whatsoever. 53 "Die before ye die," declare the Sufi mystics. 54 55 * Section 20 56 57 _Note_: Which Sufi(s) say this? 58 Also, I frequently entertain the idea of not hanging my degree certificates on the wall of my office. 59 60 --- 61 Tue 30 Jun 2020 10:50:01 AM CDT