Full Description
People play two kinds of games. In finite zero-sum games, like football, the goal is to defeat your opponent within the fixed timeframe of the game. In infinite non-zero games, such as a loving friendship, the goal is to keep the game going by continually enhancing the status of all players so they will want to continue the game. In finite games, there are clear winners and losers; in infinite games-the most important relationship games of life-everybody wins. This book is for people who want to play more infinite games and it presents the Golden Rule as the ultimate strategy for playing well. his provocative and challenging exploration of the Golden Rule, widely accepted as humanity's moral true north, neither praises the Rule uncritically nor naively insists that it is applicable in every situation. Rather, it looks critically at the Rule in the context of game theory to see where it works and where it doesn't, when it is applicable and when it isn't. It shows you why knowing the difference can offer you a powerful way to transform your life from one driven by fear to one driven by love. This philosophical game changer is written for people of all faiths or none who praise the Rule and yet violate it over and over again. It invites you into the fascinating world of ethical decision making in a way that helps you use the Golden Rule as a fulcrum for shifting your life from fearful and often unethical competition to compassionate and even loving cooperation.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. The Games People Play: An Introduction to Game Theory
2. Warning: The Golden Rule May Be Hazardous to Your Faith
3. Evading the Rule in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism
4. Evading the Rule in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
5. What Have We Learned? Is God Necessary for Morality?
6. What's Love Got to Do with It? The Golden Rule and Reciprocity
7. Who Am I? The Golden Rule and the Nature of Self
8. To Do or Not to Do: The Golden Rule and Free Agency
9. Living the Rule: Toward a Global Ethic
10. Play Different: Shifting the Game
Notes
Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading
