Re: (ReacTor) Five SFF Works About Contests and Competition

On 02/06/2025 11.33, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SFF Works About Contests and Competition
 It's not about winning, it's about doing your best! And also winning!
 https://reactormag.com/five-sff-works-about-contests-and-competition/

How about _Mask of Chaos_ by John Jakes[1]?
A crewman is discharged on a planet unknown to him. His severance pay
didn't amount to much, so when he's offered a chance to compete in
some sort of reality game, he accepts.
He's plunked down in the middle of the arena, which is basically a
small city, along with a lady. Neither one of them has been told
what the rules of the game are, so they learn by trial and error.
After a while, actions that had been rewarded start being punished
instead. Trying to maximize their rewards seems an impossible task.
In the end, it turns out that trying to win is like arguing with
Terry when he's in full-on troll mode.
--
Michael F. Stemper
Why doesn't anybody care about apathy?