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The Next Big Idea

Life Is a Game. Here's How to Play It.

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Society & Culture, Education

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2024

⏱️ 89 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“Life is a game. There’s no way to understand the human world without first understanding this. Everyone alive is playing a game whose hidden rules are built into us and that silently directs our thoughts, beliefs and actions. This game is inside us. It is us. We can’t help but play.” So begins The Status Game by acclaimed science writer Will Storr. He continues: “We play for status, if only subtly, with every social interaction, every contribution we make to work, love or family life and every internet post. We play with how we dress, how we speak and what we believe. … Life is not a journey towards a perfect destination. It’s a game that never ends. And it’s the very worst of us.” Does it have to be? We may not be able to quit the status game, but Will says we can learn to play it better. In this episode, he explains how. (This conversation first aired in October 2022.)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

There are some conversations that cause us to think, yes, of course, this is why the world is as it is.

0:08.7

And for me, the chat I had with Will Stor about his book, The Status Game, on human life and how to play it is one of those conversations.

0:18.2

I can't stop thinking about it.

0:21.4

The premise is simple. Life is a game, Will writes.

0:26.0

We play for status, if only subtly, with every social interaction,

0:31.0

every contribution we make to work, love, or family life, and every internet post.

0:37.0

We play with how we dress, how we speak, and what we believe.

0:41.0

We play with our lives, with the story we tell of our past and our dreams and plans for the future

0:46.9

Life is not a journey towards a perfect destination

0:50.4

It's a game that never ends

0:53.0

This idea keeps popping up in my mind, saying,

0:56.4

yes, this is yet another example of our innate human desire for status.

1:02.0

That's the thought I had when I read Jonathan Heights viral new book

1:05.9

The Anxious Generation about how our children and teenagers today respond to the

1:11.9

digital world.

1:13.4

Status games are everywhere.

1:15.7

In the obsession boys have with winning video games

1:18.8

to the tireless desire for social affirmation

1:21.6

that plagues so many girls. Next week we will be

1:25.6

releasing my conversation with Jonathan in two parts. It's a good one.

1:30.8

Essential listening for parents and highly relevant I think to all of us who navigate the digital world.

1:36.0

Until then, you might consider this conversation with Will to be your homework.

...

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