The reason you are having to dogmatically repeat your idiosyncratic use of the term "zero sum" is that you are using it in such a narrow sense that it adds nothing to what you are saying. A typical example of a zero sum game is a futures contract which is contrasted with a non-zero sum game like stock investing.
If you exclude externalities like all parties in a transaction being happier with the outcome or placing present value on some possible future outcome, then there is no net positive sum game.
My view is that a lot of contest type things are not a good deal for the participants, and that it's a good idea to recognize that, going in. If there are external benefits, well, then it may be worth it. Otherwise, you're probably better off investing your time in something that's positive sum, such as, say, a startup. I would have thought that people here would get that.
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The reason you are having to dogmatically repeat your idiosyncratic use of the term "zero sum" is that you are using it in such a narrow sense that it adds nothing to what you are saying. A typical example of a zero sum game is a futures contract which is contrasted with a non-zero sum game like stock investing.
If you exclude externalities like all parties in a transaction being happier with the outcome or placing present value on some possible future outcome, then there is no net positive sum game.
My view is that a lot of contest type things are not a good deal for the participants, and that it's a good idea to recognize that, going in. If there are external benefits, well, then it may be worth it. Otherwise, you're probably better off investing your time in something that's positive sum, such as, say, a startup. I would have thought that people here would get that.