Every system has an emergent internal "game".

The game emerges organically; it is not monocausal or particularly controllable.

The game is an inward facing logic that might be totally orthogonal to, or even in tension with, logic outside the system.

Within the system, the game will be a force of gravity; powerful and omnipresent--but impossible to see.

Forces of gravity create the potential for slingshot maneuvers.

If you don't acknowledge the game then it will warp you in ways you don't comprehend; in a way, you'll fuse with it.

If you acknowledge the game (as somewhat inconvenient but inescapable) you can hold it at arm's length and see it instrumentally.

"I'd prefer that X wasn't true, but that's what it is. Now that I know that, what are moves that create value despite, or even because of, that?"