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X-WR-CALNAME:🌍♟️ Game Theory #5: The World Game - why do states rise
  and fall? · Vancouver Curiosity Club
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:fab09932285d9167172327dd2d32161bc7e3e8a3@calendar.vancouver-curiosity-c
 lub
DTSTAMP:20260818T231109Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260818T195852Z
SEQUENCE:0
DTSTART:20260823T180000Z
DTEND:20260823T200000Z
X-VCC-TIMEZONE:America/Vancouver
SUMMARY:🌍♟️ Game Theory #5: The World Game - why do states rise and 
 fall?
DESCRIPTION:Video discussion - watch beforehand. No screening.\n\nShort sum
 mary\n\nMost history gets told like a story of great men\, bad luck\, wars
 \, inventions\, and the occasional dramatic collapse. Game theory asks a c
 older question: What if some of this is about incentives? States rise. Sta
 tes fall. Leaders cooperate\, betray\, overreach\, bargain\, centralize\, 
 fragment\, and make choices that may look irrational until you see the gam
 e they think they are playing. This discussion is built around the Predict
 ive History video “Game Theory #5: The World Game\,” where Professor J
 iang uses game theory to explain how states rise and fall. That is the roo
 m I want. Not a history trivia night. Not a geopolitics doom-scroll sessio
 n. Not everyone pretending they could run an empire better from a library 
 chair in Vancouver. A real conversation about power\, coordination\, trust
 \, institutions\, collapse\, and why large human systems are so hard to ke
 ep alive once the incentives start rotting.\n\nA few questions already sit
 ting in my head\n\n• “Do states collapse because leaders make bad choi
 ces\, or because the game around them changes?”\n• “When does cooper
 ation become fragile?”\n• “What makes a society strong: shared value
 s\, institutions\, force\, wealth\, geography\, trust\, or some unstable m
 ix?”\n• “Why do powerful states often seem to create the conditions 
 for their own decline?”\n• “Can game theory explain too much and mis
 s the human mess underneath?”\n• “What part of modern public life fe
 els like a bad game with bad incentives?”\n• “If you were trying to 
 predict decline\, what would you look at first?”\n\nHow the afternoon wi
 ll go\n\nCome having watched the video beforehand. It is about 57 minutes\
 , so this is doable prep. We’ll start with one question: “What is one 
 incentive that quietly shapes history more than people admit?” Then we
 ’ll stay close to the video: states\, power\, cooperation\, conflict\, i
 ncentives\, institutional failure\, and the bigger question of why some sy
 stems hold together while others break. No screening at the event. Not a l
 ecture. Not a debate about every empire ever. Not a YouTube comment sectio
 n with chairs. A real discussion.\n\nWatching\n\nPredictive History - “G
 ame Theory #5: The World Game” Video link\n\nPackage to read\n\nWhen and
  where\n\n🗓️ Date: Sunday\, August 23rd\, 2026 🕒 Time: 11am 📍 L
 ocation: Vancouver Central Library 350 West Georgia Street\, Vancouver\, B
 C 9th floor\, left of the elevators when you exit.\n\nCap\n\n12 attendees.
  Come ready to think about history as a game people keep losing while insi
 sting they are winning.\n\nWeekend RSVP policy\n\nOur weekend events regul
 arly have waitlists of 20 or more people. If you can no longer attend\, pl
 ease update your RSVP by Thursday evening. This gives someone on the waitl
 ist enough time to make plans and take the available spot. Members who rem
 ain marked as attending and miss two events without cancelling may be remo
 ved from the group. Emergencies happen\; if something unavoidable comes up
 \, please message the organizer. Keeping your RSVP accurate helps limited 
 seats go to people who can actually attend.
URL:https://vancouvercuriosityclub.com/events/game-theory-5-the-world-game-
 why-do-states-rise-and-73a5948272fa-d5d23534
LOCATION:Vancouver Central Library — 350 West Georgia Street — 9th floo
 r
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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