Glamor Economics

Chapter 81

Chapter 11, Section 8 Loss-losing business——Loss-sum game

There are two people like this, one is rich but not good at communication, and the other is short of money, but is very good at dredging interpersonal relationships, and he is a good at communication.One day, these two people met together and had a very speculative chat, with a feeling of hating to see each other later.So, the two decided to start a business together.Rich people contribute funds, and people who are good at communication dredge the relationship.Through the joint efforts of the two, their business is booming, and their careers are getting bigger and bigger.At this time, the sociable person had evil intentions and wanted to monopolize the business.Therefore, he proposed to the person who contributed the funds that he paid back the funds from the partnership, and the business belonged to him alone.Of course, the person who made the investment would definitely not be willing. The two sides began a long-term stalemate, and the conflict became more and more acute. In the end, this matter could only be resolved by the court.However, the sociable person had already set the trap for the other party when the two started doing business. When registering their names, he only registered his own name.Although the person who contributed the capital was the plaintiff, because the sociable person had set the trap long ago, the investor finally lost the lawsuit, and the sociable person monopolized the business and was helpless.In a fit of rage, the non-financial man burned all of the Sociable Man's goods, and neither of them got any good.

It is not difficult to see from this that the negative-sum game in communication makes both sides gain nothing in the result of the confrontation, or what they gain is less than what they lose, and the result is that both sides lose.The negative-sum game in the frustrated communication between the two parties can only increase the contradictions and conflicts between the two parties and make the two parties lose peace.If a negative-sum game occurs in communication, under normal circumstances, they will no longer communicate or turn against each other because they both lose.

There are five or six families living in a family courtyard. Usually, due to being too busy, each family does not communicate with each other, and lives a peaceful life behind closed doors. No one knows anyone in the neighborhood, just like strangers.But not long ago, this family courtyard was bustling.It turned out that a family bought a violin for their daughter. The little girl had never learned the violin, so she played very badly.But the little girl insisted on pulling every day, and always picked people's lunch breaks, which made it unbearable for the family members, and conflicts arose like this.Some people came directly to the door to give their opinions, but the result was an unhappy breakup, and the little girl still went her own way.Everyone discussed it in private, and some young people said harshly: "Just buy a gong as a family and beat it together during the lunch break to see who can win the fight." Several families really did that.As a result, several families finally got the little girl to stop playing the violin.But since then, when the little girl met her neighbor, it was like meeting her enemy.The little girl thinks that she can no longer play the violin because they are against her.Neighborhood relations deteriorated further.

It can be said that such a lose-lose situation can be avoided.In this matter, both parties have several options.For the family of the little girl: the best option is to let the daughter go to the training class to participate in the training.A lesser option is to change the time when my daughter plays the violin after being informed by a neighbor.The worst option is to ignore it after being told by your neighbors.And the neighbors also have the following choices: The best choice is to advise the parents of this family to let the little girl learn some knowledge about music.A lesser option would be to suggest that they keep the little girl from playing the violin during her lunch break.The worst choice is to "treat the person in the same way".

As a result, the choice of both sides is regrettable, because they both chose the worst option.Facts have proved that in many cases, in the process of interpersonal games, participants often make the most irrational choices unconsciously, and these choices are the result of people's self-interest. It is either a zero-sum game or a negative-sum game, both of which are non-cooperative confrontational games.

[links to related words]

Negative-sum game refers to the result of the conflict and struggle between the two parties, where the gain is less than the loss, which is what we usually say the sum of the results is negative, and it is also a game in which both sides lose.

(End of this chapter)