“The Game” as an example of Strong Triadic Closure
I just lost The Game.
The rules of The Game are simple:
1) If you think about, The Game, you have lost.
2) If you lose The Game, you must confess, out loud, that you have lost The Game.
3) The Game never stops. You are always either losing (by thinking about The Game), or not losing (by not thinking about The Game).
4) (Optional) If you lose The Game within 30 minutes of the last time you confessed your loss, you are exempt from Rule 2.
The Game is a mental game which “millions” of people play [1]. It is fairly straightforward, simple, and very silly. Yet, despite the lack of any seemingly logical reason for anyone to play The Game, if one enters a crowded area and yells, “I lost The Game!” a noticable collection of people in the crowd will also groan, perhaps utter an expletive or two, and also yell, “I lost The Game!” Why is this the case? How did so many people grow to play this game, and why is there such a dedicated following to it?
My suggestion is this: The Game, like friendships, follows the rule of Strong Triadic Closure. Before I delve further into what that means, let me first develop the evidence I would claim suggests the truth of my statement. Many, many people play The Game, but many, many more have heard of it. From whom/where does one first find out about The Game?
My first experience with The Game came in 2006, when I was in sixth grade. I was at soccer practice with my team, when one of my close friends on the team said with a smile, “Aw man! I lost The Game!” Another of my close friends also smiled and said “Shoot! I lost The Game!” I asked them, “What ‘game’?” To which they replied, “Are you sure you want to know?” “Of course!” I replied. They then explained to me the rules of The Game, and I lost The Game for the first time. My close friends, my classmates, and my family all caught on to my strange tendency to all of a sudden get pseudo-upset and say “Aw, I lost The Game!” and they became curious, just like I had. I explained The Game to them – some thought it was silly; others also thought it was silly. It is silly. But some of them continued to play, occasionally saying whilst around me, “Darn it, I lost The Game!” to which I would reply, “Aw, man! How could you??!! … I lost The Game!”
You see, The Game follows the rule of Strong Triadic Closure because if someone has a strong tie to The Game (i.e. he or she is an active player) and a strong tie to another person (a close friend), that friend will, at some point, hear his friend lose The Game. Whether or not the other person decides to start playing, he has heard about The Game, and knows enough to be able to understand when someone else confesses to losing The Game. This is analogous to having a weak tie with The Game. If the person decides to also become an active participant of The Game, then this is analogous to him developing a strong tie with The Game. Therefore the rule of Strong Triadic Closure is satisfied – if a person has strong ties to both The Game and another person, that other person must also develop at least a weak tie to The Game.
By the way, I still get texts from my mom telling me that she lost The Game.
And also, by the way, you just lost. Sorry 🙁
[1] http://www.losethegame.net/faq
http://www.losethegame.net/img/Cory%20Antiel%20-%20The%20Game%20Study.pdf