The Infinite Game: How to Live Well Together

by Niki Harré

Whether we are competing for a job, building a business or championing a good cause, some days it can feel as if we are trapped in an endless competition for status, wealth, or attention. Maybe if we learn to play the game and follow the rules we’ll come out on top. But is life really a finite game—a game of selection and rules, winners and losers, players and spectators? In The Infinite Game , Niki Harré asks us to imagine our world anew. What if we are all part of a different type of game entirely—where playing matters more than winning, anyone can join at any time, and rules evolve as new players turn up—an infinite game? Harré looks at our society (are people pawns or participants?) and ourselves (what kind of player would you like to be?) to offer an inspiring vision of how we might live well together. Deeply informed by psychological research and a life of social activism, Niki Harré’s provocative book teaches us all how we might live life as an infinite game.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

212 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2018

Reviews

[Cassandra C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new symbol to help us reimagine life and encourage flourishing: the infinite game. Harré delineates the infinite game from the various finite games we fill our lives with and argues that focusing on the infinite will help us live well together. The second half, filled with advice on how to become an ‘infinite player’, was particularly helpful. Essential reading for meaning-seekers, do-gooders, and self-reflexive change agents.

[Charlotte Lee-Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting main thesis and lots to think about, but I wasn't fully convinced of all her arguments particularly that humanity is inclined towards cooperation rather than competition.

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the potential to be life-changing - because it invites the reader to shift their habitual thinking. It’s describes how to run a workshop, move beyond group-think and move in yes-and, what more could there be creativity.