To celebrate the appearance of my poem TINAG in Selcouth Station here is a recording of me reading it, with a few virtual co-conspirators keeping tabs on me from a safe distance...
If you are wondering where this poem comes from, I was thinking about the difference between "gaming the system" and living life. People who treat everything as a game are often difficult or even dangerous people. Military/security organisations will sometimes treat the whole world in an overly game-theoretic way, sometimes just for strategic insight, sometimes embracing horrific outcomes for minor tactical advantage.
On the other hand, however, you've got to have some theory of the world... some framework within which to pick a move... It's just important not to see the whole thing as a zero-sum game: where the only possible victory is somebody else's loss. The universe is not like that, and if you are a little person, without a lot of brilliant solo moves available, then non-zero-sum cooperation is the only way to go.
