The Philosophy Of Squid Game
Some deeper ideas from a viral sensation
Hello friend,
This is an attempt to share some philosophical ideas from Squid Game, the violent dystopia that made waves worldwide as OTT viewers watched with shock and awe…before moving on to the next show.
These are observations based on the first season and ideas that you can apply to your own life. I’ve tried hard not to sound like the rich Bandra hipster who constantly spits out new psycho-spiritual theorems after his 3 AM rave orgies.
If you haven’t watched the show, you can skip this article. I don’t want any class action lawsuits coming my way because I didn’t give a spoiler alert.
Enough of that shit-stained buildup. Let’s get down to biz.
For a bit of a refresher, the show ends by revealing that the man behind the games turns out to be an old, ultra-wealthy dude who runs them for fun.
It seems like an entertaining twist, but beneath the layers, this hides some brutal truths about modern life that explain why even billionaires are so miserable.
This may also have seemed odd. Why would he architect such a horrific game, and how does it make sense for him to do it just for the kicks?
Absurd as it may sound, this points to the malaise of the rich.
Many people feel that they want to build a big business, make so much money they can marry a pornstar, and then their lives will be full of joy and happiness.
However, what almost every such rich bozo discovers is that life isn’t so much fun after all those nonsensical goals have been achieved.
A harder realization (that many don’t even get to), is that the fun came from the process of getting rich- not in the state of being rich itself.
As David Deutsch (or his inspiration, Sir Professor Doktor Karl Raimund Popper) said, happiness comes from solving our problems. That’s what our brains have evolved to do, over a multi-billion-year process.
What the rich and retired confront is the lack of any problems that are left for them to confront, struggle with, and emerge from successfully.
They’re already sitting around with a 9-figure account and a 36G model, and the only problem left for them to solve is to investigate if the wife is sleeping with the gym instructor next door.
That’s exactly what confronted the old man and his wealthy clients in this show.
He may have thought that lots of money would make life amazing- only to experience the sheer poverty of such an existence. No problems to solve, no challenges to look forward to.
But is it always the case with the very rich?
The difference between those who spiral into nihilism and those who continue to thrive after wealth lies in the kind of games they choose to play.
Getting wealthy is a finite game- you play it to win, there are clear rules (you climb up the ladder, hustle hard, raise money to grow, etc), and a clear line between winners and losers. Most importantly, the entire goal in such a game is to win, nothing else.
Contrast this with an infinite game.
There are no rules or boundaries- in fact, you can play with the boundaries to keep the game exciting. There are no winners and losers, just the enjoyment that comes from participation. The purpose is to play and perhaps improve your skill, not to win. And the idea is that the game should go on forever.
For instance, if someone loves reading, they can do it throughout their lives and it’ll always provide joy & satisfaction. They never do it so they can become the best reader in the world, or read more books than their friend from school and announce it on Instagram like it was some dick-measuring contest.
It’s an infinite game- something that can go on forever and continue to reap joyous dividends, where the results don’t matter at all.
What we can say, therefore, is that the old man probably had no infinite games to keep his life enjoyable once he’d won the game of business & money. He could find nothing else to give him joy, which is probably why he resorted to such a ridiculous freak show of a game to keep himself entertained and busy.
But that wasn’t enough. The old man went a step further and participated in those deadly games. Why?
To me, this signals another major loss that we are experiencing as a culture.
Apart from a dearth of infinite games, we’re slowly losing the communal elements of life- the tribal engagements where we’re with other people and feel a sense of belonging.
Modernity has dealt a body blow to all sorts of physical engagements as we prefer staying alone, not socializing much, and withdrawing from religious or cultural celebrations. Once, we had villages, shared rituals, and extended families. Now, we have Instagram DMs, weekend getaways, and a vague sense that something’s missing.
This lack of communal interaction isn’t something humans are used to and the yearning to be part of a group that lives close together and works towards a shared goal is intoxicating enough for the old man to join in.
This idea has been captured well in Sebastian Junger’s Tribe, where he describes how, even in the middle of terrible wars, people bunched up together in horrible conditions in safe houses or underground zones found this time to be the most meaningful period of their lives and kept yearning for something similar once they’d escaped the war & their lives had gone back to normal.
Another crucial insight here is that participating with his new friends in these games offered opportunities to be in the flow state- an experience of total absorption in a task that makes us lose our sense of self and is a very important ingredient of a meaningful existence.
Once again, thanks to the endless menu of modern distractions, we’re slowly losing our ability to enter the flow state through activities like playing an instrument, hobbies like pottery, or sports. Entering the flow state is known to produce very positive psychological outcomes, and a lack of doing it adequately is a major contributor to the meaning crisis we’re experiencing globally.
A yearning for communal belonging and flow state activities likely compelled the old man to endure the brutal conditions of their camp and participate in the very monstrosity he’d created.
So what’s the bottom line here? A few practical points come to mind:
Find your infinite games before you find wealth.
Money can only solve your money problems, but it reveals your purpose problems in all their glory.
Understand that it’s not about the pursuit of happiness, but the happiness of pursuit. You may long for the endpoint of your pursuit, but what people often reach isn’t a happy ending but an endless abyss…unless they begin an interesting new game that can keep them busy.
To end, I’ll quote one of my favorite dialogues from The Hitchhiker’s Guide: “Hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied”.
Those last 4 words are probably the most important life advice you can get. The only thing I’d add is that the occupation must be a net positive for the world.
After all, the old man from Squid Game also occupied himself very successfully.
That’s it for the day, folks. Some of these ideas are inspired by the work of the brilliant and inspirational John Vervaeke. Please check out his series ‘Awakening From The Meaning Crisis’ if this article resonated with you. It’s a goldmine.
And if you want to read similar articles I’ve written, here are a few more to tingle the neurons: