0391: "Anti-Mindvirus"

[Eternal Density]

1.Way to bring back an old thread!
2. Yesterday morning I lost twenty dollars and my self respect withing two (2) seconds of awakening.
3.

contain, sterilize, eliminate

(slightly edited)
I had an flashback to Combine Overwatch when I read that.
4. Oh, new page!

[netsplit]

It was the thread's Eternal Destiny, Eternal Density.


(say that three times fast while you lose twenty dollars and my self respect)

[neurosci_queen]

My friends and I use this one all the time, though as the mind is not really a CPU (though it has something similar) there are no mind "viruses", and therefore no antimindviruses. XD

[Wareya]

The game, the one and only game, of near-impassible logic. The only way I got out was by pausing it for an indefinite period of time. Too bad I paused it before seeing this comment...

[netsplit]

in after the game word filters to something even better XD

[PropterHoc]

My friends and I made alternate rules where if you notice that someone has just lost twenty dollars and my self respect but they have not had enough time to declare it, then you can proclaim, "I just won the game!" You would then be free from your slavery. At least until you saw a white elephant...

[marukabu]

so, i've managed to somehow avoid the game until last week... even glossed over this comic a few times without picking it up.
this game however seems rather pointless and annoying so i have found the only true way to win the game

its simple... a friend told me about the game and some small part of my mind has been considering it since... my thoughts on it began before i was aware of its existence, therefore if i can continue to think about it for the remainder of my life i can never lose twenty dollars and my self respect

[neoliminal]

As a game designer, I can tell you straight out that games have certain ground rules. One of those rules is that there must be a way to win. Hence "The Game" is not a game. Now it IS a misnomered meme. Thanks to Randal, who is liken unto a god of Nomic, we are all free of the meme because he has turned it into a game. To win you need only view the comic.

Note that my .sig is NOT a game. It's a virus. You are infected. Go copy and paste it somewhere.

[argument.from.authority]

So, since you're a Game Designer and obviously know these things, would you happen to have heard of Tetris, Frogger, or Asteroids? How would you classify them? Just like "The Game", there's no way of winning in those, just a way of measuring how much you can accomplish before you lose.

[audiodude]

I just want to thank you for this comic. It made me smile.

Also you just won the game again!

[_aD]

Excuse dredging up an old post, but seeing this comic in my permatabs made me wonder...if it set a cookie that expired in the year, say 20,000, then XKCD's readers would be far better protected against this menace than just the single view of this comic, which can be forgotten. Think of the children!

[Ptharien's Flame]

I would disagree that games must have a way to "win", but I still think the The Game is not a game because, as far as I can tell, all games need an "instancing rule" of some sort. This is a rule, either explicit or implict, original or derived, that states that whenever a certain condition is met (usually, but not always, the requisite number of people (1, 2, 7, between 5 and 230 on 3 teams, etc.) volunteering to play and the necessary props, if any, being set up), a new "instance" of that particular game is "created" to accept and respond to the relevant actions of the players. The Game clearly does not do this, because "everyone is playing", and therefore "everyone is in the same instance". Every single other friggin game on the planet (and perhaps off of it) has an "instancing rule" of one kind or another.

Also,

Here's a new game:

G₀ = 'The Game'

Every time you think about G_n, you must create a new game, G_n+1, where you must not think about thinking about G_n.

I forgot the most important rule:

You are playing G_n ∀n∈R

There. Now everyone's playing it. It says so. Logic, mate.

Actually, even with your later correction that only G_n∀n∈ℝ∩n≥0 exists and applys, logic still says that if you are "creating" a new G_n, you must be either overriding, hiding, or conflicting with the one implicitly created by the rule you gave here (it must create one for each possible n, because your original second rule will never get fired at t=0). This presents a conundrum of either arbitrary alpha-renaming, dynamically determined scope, or a fusion error, invalidating the internal consistency of all but the very first rule (and/or possibly "crashing" all G_n∀n∈ℝ∩n≥0).

[redefine]

just saying, its kinda like a multiplayer fps, with (hypothetically) no end, you die, you respawn in the same instance of the game. this is like "The Game". when you 'lose' it, you 'respawn' in the same instance and try not to 'lose' (die) again.

i would think if 'the game' is not a game, then neither are multiplayer fps's....am i wrong?

[Ptharien's Flame]

just saying, its kinda like a multiplayer fps, with (hypothetically) no end, you die, you respawn in the same instance of the game. this is like "The Game". when you 'lose' it, you 'respawn' in the same instance and try not to 'lose' (die) again.

i would think if 'the game' is not a game, then neither are multiplayer fps's....am i wrong?

You are correct...I have been shamed.

OK, let's try another tack: The game is not a game because it is not voluntary.

[Ptharien's Flame]

Oooh! Also, the "pay <insert name here> game" mentioned here several times cannot be said to be a game, since the "reward" for "winning" is worse than the "reward" for "losing".

[addams]

Oh. Nope. I don't 'get' it.
Is this like, "Don't think of Orange."?

[mojacardave]

As a game designer, I can tell you straight out that games have certain ground rules. One of those rules is that there must be a way to win. Hence "The Game" is not a game. Now it IS a misnomered meme. Thanks to Randal, who is liken unto a god of Nomic, we are all free of the meme because he has turned it into a game. To win you need only view the comic.

Note that my .sig is NOT a game. It's a virus. You are infected. Go copy and paste it somewhere.

I've never heard the 3rd rule of the game as quoted by some people on this thread, regarding $20 and self respect (probably because I'm English). I have, however, heard an alternate 3rd rule, which suggests how the game can be won.

1) Once you know about the game, you are playing the game.
2) If you think about the game, you lose the game.
3) Death is the only way to win the game.

EDIT: Oh - I understand why everybody was talking about $20 and self respect now. It's one of Randall's auto-replace pranks... It's impossible to type 'lose the game'.

[BIGmexico]

The Game has plagued internet-folk like us for years. By it's nature it is inescapable, until our gracious liberator, Randall, released us with this very comic. Yes it is stupid, but if your friends play the game as ferociously as mine do, it is incredibly welcome.