Harré, N. (2018). The infinite game: How to live well together. New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN: 1869408780. 212 pages.
Reviewed by Susie Burke PhD,
Psychologist, writer, climate campaigner
Let’s begin with a disclaimer - I’m a big Niki Harré fan. Having read, re-read and dog-eared multiple pages of Psychology for a Better World, I was thrilled when her next book The Infinite Game was published, and even more delighted to play the infinite game with Niki when I met her for the first time at the 2018 APS Congress. This book is a beautiful extension of her first collection of ideas for a better world. In The Infinite Game she provides a valuable overarching framework for holding together the many great, innovative, sustainable solutions that are springing up around the world.
The concept of infinite and finite games comes originally from philosopher James P. Carse, who first wrote and spoke about it in the mid 1980’s. In Niki’s elaboration of Carse’s concept, she invites us to imagine life as an infinite game - a playful metaphor for living in society using a different set of rules, in which the purpose of the game is to continue the play, and everyone can join in. In the infinite game, we live our lives based on universal principles of consideration of others (including other species), cooperation, authenticity, creativity and diversity. In contrast, the purpose of the finite game, like the “economic growth game”, the “funding game”, the “housing market game”, the “career game”, or the “patriotism game”, is to win.
Niki illustrates the broad differences between the infinite and finite games using the example of beach cricket versus test cricket. Beach cricket is a game which invites others in, has flexible rules, provides a deep sense of connection with others, tends towards diversity, uses open and interconnected networks etc. Test cricket, on the other hand, includes only select people, sticks with rules set by the game, tends towards sameness, has winners and losers etc. Whilst none of this is to detract from the joy, for many, of test cricket, it is a useful metaphor to understand the contrast with an infinite game like beach cricket which thrives when people join in with their different talents, makes everyone feel welcome, and builds on the joy of community.
In the first half of the book, Niki unpacks the problems with a world of finite games which perpetuate the status quo, and invites us to consider the unexpected treasures which we will find when we strive to play the infinite game instead. The second half of the book is about how to apply the infinite game in our lives, despite the fear, doubt and disorientation that inevitably arises when we begin to challenge the status quo, and find ourselves up against a world of finite games. Niki points out that the player striving to cooperate as deeply and broadly as possible may, ironically, often feel alone and foolish. “That is the deal, I am afraid”, says Niki. “You give, you feel awkward, and then you sometimes find, as if by magic, that something comes back” (p.156).
The Infinite Game is a book filled with charming and whimsical metaphors and suggestions that Niki uses to illustrate her points. Reading her book itself is like having a chat with a good friend as you hike up a mountain - stimulating and challenging! She inspires you to notice and expand on existing joys, at the same time as challenging you to work harder at living a values informed life. She has an artful way of bringing you along on her journey, as she explores different challenges of playing the infinite game. It is a game she strives to play herself - imperfectly, she acknowledges, but enthusiastically and optimistically - in her roles as a community psychologist, social activist, academic, community member, and parent. She issues an irresistible invitation to readers to join her in this quest.
Niki reminds us to trust the instinct that tells us that communal well-being is enhanced by cooperation. She invites us to be radical cooperators, like, “a discerning bumblebee that pollinates only the plants she senses bring vibrancy and colour to the system as a whole” (p.154). Be people-like, she says, when attempting to create the good life. Inauthenticity (deadly, deadly dull), is like a one-person logjam that prevents life from flowing freely. Whilst you might have to be a bit uncool to try and be authentic, “when you do act from some deep yearning, based on your values, it is like slicing the status quo open, jumping through and yelling ‘Who wants to come too?’”
After reading this book, we will all want to come too!
For a review of the original edition of Niki Harré’s book Psychology for a Better World: Strategies to Inspire Sustainability (2011); see Volume 25, No 2.