Finite and Infinite Games Audiobook (Free)

“There are at least two kinds of video games,” expresses James P. Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the various other infinite. A finite game is played for the intended purpose of earning, an infinite video game for the intended purpose of continuing the play.”

Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played to become won, which can be if they end. But infinite video games are more inexplicable. Their object isn’t winning, but making sure the continuation of play. The rules may about Finite and Infinite Video games change, the limitations may change, actually the participants may change—as long as the game is definitely never permitted to come to a finish.

What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite video games? What exactly are we performing when we play—finitely or infinitely? And how do infinite games have an effect on the ways in which we live our lives?

Carse explores these questions with stunning beauty, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and just why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He research our globe—through the finite video games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion—leaving all we think we know lighted and transformed. Along the way, Carse discovers new means of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a job to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite video games, he displays, may offer wealth and position, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and significantly grander.

Carse has created a book rich in insight and aphorism. Currently a global literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to become argued about and celebrated for a long time to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.