Mirror, Mirror, The Greatest? Prolific, Profound, Powerful, Popular

You reach deep, down into the cauldrons or vats of back issues. You have let them sit in a dark place, aging as a good wine does in a wine cellar. 

You have data in your garage, gazebo, and barrels, ready to dig out the finest materials for one of your best articles.

You want your sports writing to impact society. Your vision is that your sports writing will be chiseled as a hieroglyphical message on the walls of historical museums. Your eyes are wide open and you see your writings in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for example.

Then, you notice the website that has nurtured you, and inspired you, has some of its best writers squabbling over the question, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the greatest of them all?"

Some of the gifted ones rant and rave, reacting to comments and articles. Some say to themselves, "Surely, I am the greatest. No other can beat me at this game?"

I have come to share another perspective with you. It comes from a course called "game theory." The concepts were developed near the time of World War II. A professor named Larry Narici taught me the concepts at Polytechnic Institute of New York University, located at 333 Jay Street, in Brooklyn, New York. 

A simple example goes like this:

There are two types of games in the discussion:  one is "zero sum" and the other is "non-zero sum."

In the zero sum game, there is a fixed amount in the pot, say $200. If you win, $100, the other writer can only win $100. If you were to win only $10, the other writer could win, in that round, $190. The total amount, adding both winnings would always be $200.

A comment is that there are finite resources to be divided among competitors. The total will always be $200, no more, no less.

In the non-zero sum game, it can be a win-win situation. You pursue your goal in the game, and others pursue their goals. The sum total of winnings can be any number. The greater the effort of each player, the greater the grand total for all.

Life, in my opinion, is a non-zero sum game. Although we may be in the same game, our benefits and impact will be different, and not necessarily comparable.

You win. The other creative writers win, too. It can be a win-win situation, if you embrace the theoretical framework of game theory.

There is no need to mesmerize yourself before a mirror, chanting and ranting, "Mirror,mirror on the wall. Who is the greatest of us all."

My opinion, which I wrote for students at Texas A & M University, in College Station, when I was one of the advisers of the Voices of Praise College Choir:

We each share our glory.

We each share our beauty.

And in so doing, we each make our indelible impression on mankind.

As a tough skinned, mature writer, you make a decision as to what is important to you: prolific, profound, power or popular.

My choice is clear to me.

What is your choice?