17. Feedback Loops
If winning isn’t everything, then why do they keep score?
—VINCE LOMBARDI
You are playing a game of Monopoly with your friends, or at least you were earlier. Now, two of your friends have gone bankrupt and it’s just you and one opponent. He has amassed four monopolies and a massive pile of cash. You have no monopolies, and it’s just a matter of time before you hit one of his properties and the game ends. The game is a foregone conclusion, so your decisions have become meaningless. Your odds of coming back to win are astronomical, and besides, it would take a couple hours of fruitless rolling. Your opponent does not want you to give up; he wants to earn the victory. It’s not a lot of fun. What happened? The game at some point ...
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