What is the purpose of "The Game"?

Whatever game you're playing, it's important to understand its true purpose to maximize growth and enjoyment. So what is the point of your game, all games, and The Game? I believe that underlying the fun, it's always really about evolution.

Certainly it's not about winning by any means possible, because if it were, then why not always cheat? Why not enlarge the basketball hoop to make it easier to score? Because it's not fun, it's not impressive, and it wouldn't make you evolve. At least not in the right direction.

Cheating or "bending the rules" could teach you how to get better at pretending to be an athlete, or at finding loopholes, but your hand eye coordination, physical fitness, and character will not grow but diminish. But as long as you get the trophy, isn't it enough? And herein we have the problem, not just with technical "victories" but the modern world. As we have increasingly pursued technical rather than essential victories, we have diverted our evolution into a counterproductive direction. This has resulted in the most fake society ever. But before proceeding further, let's take a moment to review the key terms:

Essence of the Game

The Essence of the Game is the intrinsic, true nature of a competition, void of any design flaws or loopholes. For example, football (soccer), is supposed to be about how good a team is at kicking and scoring goals, not scoring penalties. So the essence is kicking (and teamwork).

Technical "Victory"

A technical "victory" is to win according to the rules, but not the true Essence of the Game. This could involve exploiting imperfections in the design of the game, like a glitch or loophole that was overlooked by its creators. Though this strategy could result in a legal, technical "victory" according to the rules, if it is contrary to the Essence of the Game, it should be considered an essential loss.

Essential Victory

An essential victory is to win at the Essence of the Game, but not according to the technical rules, so an essential victory is a technical loss. Though an essential victory may not be recognized by the game authority, or always easy to objectively define, it should be regarded as much greater in value than a technical victory. For example, if players technically lose a match due to a flawed referee or rule, but won according to the Essence of the Game, then they are essentially victorious.

Perfect Victory

A perfect victory occurs when the player wins both according to the technical rules and Essence of the Game. This is the only type of victory possible in a perfectly fair competition.

Acknowledging Essential Victories

Though it may feel cheap to take pride in a technical loss (essential victory), it is crucial to do so, to avoid inversion and keep your evolution oriented in a productive direction. Our world is flawed, even backwards, in many ways, so it is necessary to use honest judgement to ensure that you feel the emotions that you deserve, regardless of how misfortune or bad actors may distort things, in order to evolve properly.