What is a Zero Sum Game?
A quick intro to a very useful mental model
If you don’t already know this mental model, you may well have heard of it before. It’s a key concept from game theory to add to your growing mental set of models! 🧠
What is a Zero-Sum Game?
A situation in which one person or group can win something only by causing another person or group to lose it.
Often to explain zero-sum games a pie is discussed. Let’s imagine it in the literal sense — we’re both hungry and we get a pie to share. If I go ahead and scarf down most of it and only leave you a few crumbs and you’re left hungry, we’ve just experience a zero-sum game. For one person (or side) to win, another must lose. It’s a win-lose situation.
What about Non-Zero-Sum Game?
In contrast, non-zero-sum games (sometimes called positive-sum games) can be win-win situations. These are the type of situations that make the figurative pie bigger. International trade is a commonly used example — both countries can benefit via import and export of goods.
I wonder if Aristotle was thinking about a non-zero-sum game when he wrote:
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
