## Definition & Characteristics **High-agency game**: travel; passion projects; video game - the constant need of making micro-choices - live-time feedback a feedback loop between intention, action, and outcome **Low-agency game**: going to classes, going through the motion, following a schedule, doing a fixed set of tasks - pre-determined paths - delayed feedback (study & test-result) --- ## When given the freedom, people will naturally choose tasks with higher agency that gives them better motivation and sense of fulfillment. People will voluntarily engage in **harder** high-agency activities while resisting **easier** low-agency ones. A person might: - Spend 60 hours mastering a difficult video game but struggle to attend a 1-hour lecture - Plan an elaborate international trip but dread following a simple work schedule - Obsess over a challenging passion project but procrastinate on straightforward assigned tasks => When you see someone spending hundreds of hours on a Steam game, but struggle to finish an essay of 500 words that reqruies no more than an hour, you know which task is of higher agency for him. ### 水放低处流，人往高处走 (in terms of agency) **水往低处流 = 物理系统追求最低能量状态** - 水没有 agency - 水只响应重力 - 水的"目标"是静止 **人往高处走 = 生命系统追求最高 agency 状态** - 人有 agency - 人主动塑造环境 - 人的"目标"是成长和掌控 => ==生命的本质就是通过 agency 反熵：== [[宇宙的终极目标是通过 agency 抗熵阻止自己的死亡]] **如果人真的"懒"（追求最低能量），我们应该：** - 不会直立行走（太费能量） - 不会发明工具（太费脑力） - 不会探索未知（太冒险） - 不会创造艺术（无生存价值） --- ## 反驳 UBI 躺平论 **"人们不是懒，是在逃避低 agency 的苦役。"** 给他们看这个事实：同一个人会花 100 小时通宵打游戏、钻研自己的项目、规划复杂的旅行，却连 1 小时的无聊会议都坐不住。问题不是"不想干活"，而是**现有的工作剥夺了 agency**。 UBI 实验的真实数据打脸这个论调：芬兰、肯尼亚、加拿大的 UBI 试点显示，人们拿到无条件收入后，**反而更积极**——创业率上升、教育投入增加、志愿服务增多。他们不是停止工作，而是**终于能选择有意义的工作**。 **真正的懒惰是被低 agency 环境训练出来的习得性无助。** 给人自由，他们会跑向高 agency 的挑战，而不是躺平。 误解："你看，人们在监狱里都很消极，不想活动，说明人本性就是懒。" **实际情况**：监狱剥夺了 agency，所以人变得消极。给他们自由，他们会重新活跃。 ### Learned Helplessness - 在低 agency 环境中（打工、上课、做重复劳动），人的大脑学会了"我的行动不产生有意义的结果" - 这种状态下，大脑为了保护自己，会**主动降低动机** --- ## Institutional Low-Agency Design Many modern systems are optimized for **control and standardization** rather than **engagement and agency**: - **Education**: Standardized curricula, fixed schedules, predetermined outcomes - **Corporate work**: Micromanagement, rigid processes, KPI-driven tasks --- ## Synthesis: The Agency Imperative **Core principle**: Human flourishing requires environments that respect and cultivate agency. **The opportunity**: Most systems are under-optimized for agency. Small increases in choice, feedback, and autonomy can dramatically improve engagement and outcomes. **The challenge**: ==Designing for agency== is harder than designing for compliance. It requires trust, flexibility, and tolerance for diverse approaches. **The future**: As *automation* handles low-agency tasks, human work increasingly becomes high-agency problem-solving, creativity, and relationship-building. Those who can create and navigate high-agency environments will thrive.