Cheesing
Rusty Guinn
August 26, 2020·19 comments·Politics
Systems have stopped rewarding the strategies they were designed for. In the 2020 political, financial, and social landscape, exploiting the cracks in the mechanics produces more reliable wins than executing proper strategy. This isn't desperation. It's the new dominant strategy.
- The game changed without anyone announcing it. Madden's cheesing, using Michael Vick's broken speed stats to repeatedly execute unrealistic plays, wins more consistently than balanced, realistic gameplay. The same principle now applies to election campaigns, stock valuations, and corporate strategy. The systems aren't broken by accident. They're being exploited by design.
- Competence is now a disadvantage. Running a company by maximizing real value, investing by studying fundamentals, or campaigning on straight-shooting integrity means losing to people executing edge-case strategies. Everyone else is doing non-value-additive things that add stock price. Everyone else is using manufactured threats to drive narrative. Refusing to participate means accepting defeat.
- The vulnerability appears once you see it. AI in video games can't handle extreme behaviors. Government regulators can't handle coordinated narrative flooding. Elections can't handle the interaction of memes and polarization. These aren't design flaws. They're newly exposed seams that work every time someone exploits them. Kodak's bailout and Tesla's stock split exemplify what happens when you understand the mechanics better than the game designers.
- The system hasn't broken. It's been revealed. The rules we thought governed competition still exist on paper. But something more troubling has happened: the environment has become so distorted that the edge cases are now the center. The question becomes whether you can compete at all without adopting these tactics. For most participants, the answer is no.
- The real crisis is what holds the system together. If everyone knows the game rewards cheesing, and everyone is forced to choose between losing honorably or winning dishonestly, what keeps it from collapsing entirely? The article identifies the trap but leaves the answer uncertain. That uncertainty is what readers need to understand.
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Comments
Boy, Tecmo Bowl nostalgia! Completely forgot about the Bo Jackson exploit, although I used it practically every game.
Nice piece and tie in to widening gyre.
LT was a monster, too!
In the old days we called this ‘gaming the system’.
Now i suppose we could say that the entire system has been turned into a game…
Well spotted, and yes, I think that’s the only distinction.
In all of the D&D campaigns I’ve experienced, I’ve seldom seen someone pull off lawful good effectively: people usually end up as lawful stupid or with the ‘lawful’ part slowly decaying.
That’s been my experience, too, although I’m not sure how much it has to do with my network of friends being so naturally chaotic / conscience-driven that they have difficulty playing the role.
Frankly, in all of this stuff, I think I’d happily settle for Neutral or Chaotic Good.
Cheesing is everywhere.
Mother-in-law and wife’s coworker both brought up a recent sermon at a local church and are professing “end of times”
When normal messaging loses its efficacy, the edges are the only place to garner attention
Absolutely. That’s a great example, John.
I think/hope I’ve settled into someone who’s neither of the guys above. Haven’t lost my soul either…as a 23-year vet in the brokerage industry. I’ve witnessed the financialization of everything (although not fully aware of it until I joined the ET pack). I think I’ve done well by my clients. Have played the hand that’s been dealt even if I haven’t been crazy about the game itself, the room it’s been played in or even the brand of the cards.
My hope is there will be truly transformative changes in capital markets and the financial services industry. The collapse of share buybacks gives me hope that we’re heading in that direction in capital markets, but I’m sure it’ll be a mighty struggle. Thoughts on the things we need to be doing as participants in the industry to hang onto our souls?
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.
Its great to live in a time and place where we are allowed choices and that preserving that ability requires an ethic beyond win at all costs.
Thanks Rusty.
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