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Possible implications for 4-team ball-games -- 2-way football?
Improvisation in Multivocal Poetic Discourse (Part #6)
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Competition vs Cooperation: There is a fundamental contrast between the high degree of competition cultivated in many 2-team ball games, as compared with the high degree of cooperation cultivated in multi-person juggling. It is of course the case that the governance of many countries is primarily inspired by the first, most obviously in 2-party systems of ruling (majority) party and opposition -- and the kind of competitive discourse characteristic of legislative assemblies.
Whilst the latter lend themselves to description in terms of game-playing, it would appear that they are far less "fit for purpose" than the times require. They could be understood as a continuing glorification of the pattern of duelling practiced over centuries, with the sole objective of fatally wounding the "other" -- if only symbolically and metaphorically. The practice was notably condemned by a Pope, as usefully described by Shaun McAfee (This 1891 Encyclical on Dueling is Surprisingly Relevant Today, National Catholic Register, 29 March 2016).
Curiously the card game of contract bridge (and its variants) is indicative of a strange combination of competition and cooperation, with four players in two competing partnerships, which could offer clues to exploration of 4-sided ball games.
Beyond binary games? It is therefore interesting to reflect speculatively on the possibility of 4-team ball games. Of equal interest, however, is exploration of the seeming total lack of incentive to their experimental development -- despite the multiplicity of forms of 2-team games (in terms of number of players per side). It would appear that there is a very heavy commitment to the continued glorification of the binary logic they embody as zero-sum games, and the kind of "energy" and interest they engender.
In contrast to frequent allusion to "the spirit of the game", zero-sum games clearly reinforce a pattern of violence -- currently exemplified by the violence between supporters at Euro 2016. More fundamentally, is there a contradiction between that spirit and the inequality engendered by the institutionalization of the quest for "champions"?
This would appear to be the case even though various books have been produced on the philosophical underpinnings of various ball games (Michael W. Austin, Football and Philosophy, 2009; Eric Bronson, Baseball and Philosophy, 2004; Jerry L. Walls, Basketball and Philosophy, 2008; Ted Richards, Soccer and Philosophy, 2010). The problematic implications for world governance may well be indicated by other books (Sal Paolantonio, How Football Explains America, 2008; Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World: an unlikely theory of globalization, 2004).
Modelling games: Widely studied as game theory, this is the mathematical modelling of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers. It is notably of relevance to economics, political science, and psychology, as well as logic, computer science, and biology -- and human behavioural relations in general. There is some interest in many player, N-person games, especially in the case of multi-stakeholder games. The Wikipedia list of games in game theory specifically distinguishes the number of players (sides) in those "most commonly studied". Of the 33 games listed, 21 are indicated as 2-sided games. 11 are indicated as N-sided, and one is indicated as 3-sided. Curiously the latter is termed truel, namely a duel amongst 3 parties -- related to a Mexican standoff.
In contrast to the practice of juggling (noted above), it is unclear how readily the preoccupations of game theory extend to 4-sided, 5-sided, 7-sided or 12-sided "games". Curiously the widely publicized process highlighted by Edward de Bono could be understood as a 6-sided game (Six Thinking Hats, 1985; Six Action Shoes, 1991; Six Frames For Thinking About Information, 2008). Similarly the common constraint on team size could be understood as framing these as 5- to 9- sided games (George Miller, The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: some limits on our capacity for processing information, Psychological Review, 1956).
More intriguing is whether a 12-person jury, or the classical round table of the wise, could be understood as a 12-sided game of stakeholders. It is appropriate to note that these considerations are evident in some card games (Card Games for Twelve Players).
As indicated below, the challenges of governance suggest a consideration of tripolar and multipolar frames, as notably articulated by Kinhide Mushakoji (Global Issues and Interparadigmatic Dialogue: essays on multipolar politics, 1988; Scientific Revolution and Interparadigmatic Dialogues, 1979).
Four-sided football: Possibilities for consideration with respect to 4-team (2-way) ball games might include:
- rather than a single rectangular field defining two "sides" (defended by each team against the efforts of the other to score a goal), a second rectangular field is laid out at right angles to the first (over which a second 2-team plays in a similar manner). The two fields then form a cross, with the two 2-team sets play "across" each other.
- to clarify the pattern of the game(s), the 4 teams need to wear distinctive colours, but with those in each 2-team game wearing colours enabling them to be distinguished
- two balls would then be used -- one for each game -- coloured distinctively. What might a 3-ball game be like?
- the question would then be what rules would govern how those playing in either of the 2-team games could engage with the ball of the other game, or should this be recognized as a fault?
- could the 2 games effectively "swap" balls under some conditions -- perhaps allowing goals scored with the "other" balls to be counted differently?
- should the ball of one game be allowed outside "its" field, or be declared out of play?
- could the rules allow the ball from one game to score a goal on the field of the other?
- are there modalities in which a team from one game can support or undermine the strategies of a team in the other game, or that game as a whole?
- does the 2-way pattern allow for the possibility of contrasting games playing across each other? Perhaps, for example: a game of men across a game of women; a game of the highly skilled (adults?) across a game of the lesser skilled (adolescents? disabled?), or otherwise challenged (shorter? heavier?). This would help to address the spirit of inequality engendered and glorified through the victory of one team over another.
Curiously, and perhaps appropriately, the Lauburu frames reflection on such possibilities, as well as on their complexification.
| Complexification of 2-way games in the light of the Lauburu | |
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Chess as an example: Clearly the extensive development of online gaming (and virtual reality) would enable 2-way, 3-way and N-way games to be variously explored -- bypassing any resistance formulated in terms of physical layout. The emergence of the clan-guild system in online gaming is already an indication of this. A valuable indication of the viability of such a possibility is the existence of four-player chess. and three-player chess (see Chess variants: four-player chess). Their rules could contribute to reflection on 4-team ball-games.
| 4-player chess | 3-player chess |
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| Images reproduced from relevant Wikipedia entries | |
Three-sided football: Although no effort has seemingly been made to experiment with four-team football, three-sided football (also known as 3SF) has indeed been developed. This was done to articulate an understanding of triolectics (as a refinement of the concept of dialectics), and to disrupt everyday assumptions reinforced by conventional football (as argued above). Appropriate to the aesthetic dimension of this argument, the original initiative was associated with the philosophy of Situationist Art.
The three teams play over a hexagonal pitch (Geoff Andrews, The Three Sided Football Revolution: football's new idea, Philosophy Football, 9 June 2013; Sachin Nakrani, Three-sided football gives players something to think about. The Guardian, 7 May 2013; A game of three halves, Philosophy Football; see video and video).
In an event called "Thinking Football", aiming to reflect on the role of football in modern society, theAthletic de Bilbao Foundation organized a three-sided football championship in 2011 with 37 participant teams. Other events are organized within the framework of the International Three Sided Football Federation (founded 2009), which hosted the first World Cup in 2014.
The degree of association with philosophy recalls the early enthusiasm for Rithmomachy -- a board game previously rivalling chess -- otherwise known as the Philosophers' Game.
Use of artificial intelligence in game exploration: Given the increasing importance of online gaming and artificial intelligence, and their potential implications for governance, the exploration of N-sided games in a multipolar world merits careful attention. A valuable summary is offered by Miklos N. Szilagyi (Investigation of N -Person Games by Agent-Based Modeling, Complex Systems, 21, 2012).
In considering the aesthetics of multivocal poetic improvisation, Szilagyi notably offers an unusual summary of the possible personality characteristics of the players, understood as some combination of the following patterns (or styles of play):
Adventurous (Antisocial) | Dramatic (Histrionic) Vigilant (Paranoid) Idiosyncratic (Schizotypal) Exuberant (Cyclothymiac) Leisurely (Passive-Aggressive) Serious (Depressive) Mercurial (Borderline) Inventive (Compensatory Narcissistic) |
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