zero-sum

English

Adjective

zero-sum (not comparable)

  1. (game theory) Of a system, where all gains are offset by exactly equal losses.
    Coordinate terms: positive-sum, win-win; negative-sum
    • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker‎[1], →ISSN:
      Dalio is right, but somewhat self-serving. If hedge-fund managers are playing a zero-sum game, what is their social utility? […] Can it really be in America’s interest to have so much of its young talent playing a zero-sum game?
    • 2026 January 22, “The Myth that the World rewards Talent (or why current systems punish Virtue)”, in An Actor Explains‎[2], via Substack, archived from the original on 4 February 2026:
      When disorder reigns, humanity tends toward an extraction system. This kind of existence is one of low trust and zero-sum, where people are replaceable, the past is overlooked, and those who react quickly prevail.

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