When you look at a game of chess, you might just see a board with pieces moving in every direction until somebody wins. To me, I see the chess board as a projection of our lives. Every move that is made on the board shows your personality and creative motives as you try to beat your opponent into submission. Depending on your personality, some players tend to play an open, aggressive style of chess where risks are taken in order to give yourself an advantage. Other players tend to play slowly; patiently waiting for his/her opponent to make a mistake. Just as you play on the chess board, the values you have gained from past experiences define your overall view of sustainability.
For instance, the chess openings I play tend to be slower, more strategic, and safer because I feel more comfortable in pouncing on my opponent’s mistakes instead of causing my own. This same strategy applies to my views on sustainability. For example, I enjoy understanding US policy decisions and how they affect Americans in the long-term. Reviewing policy decisions such as the US withdrawal from the Paris Accords allows me to connect my understanding of sustainability and realize that policy decisions like these do not help the United States. For example, it is estimated from 2020 to 2039 that “between $4 billion and $6 billion [would be spent] in annual coastal property damages from sea level rise and more frequent and intense storms” (“Climate Change: Information on Potential Economic Effects Could Help Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce Fiscal Exposure”, 2017). Being strategic in decision-making not only helps on the chess board, but also saves people’s lives.
Strategic thinking is important for decision making, and your understanding of systems plays an important role in decisions. For instance, the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen once said, “I am trying to beat the guy sitting across from me and trying to choose the moves that are most unpleasant for him and his style” (Markushin, 2013). What Carlsen excels at is his understanding of the weaknesses in his opponent. Just as in sustainability, it is necessary to recognize the flaws of the systems we create. Sustainability scientists constantly consider many different systems that are interacting with each other on different scales. However, one important thing that helps in understanding these interactions are the values of those who dictate how the system works. It is important to find these areas of interaction, known to be leverage points, “where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything” (Meadows, 1999). In chess, it is important to find the right move at the right time because it can lead to a chain reaction of positive effects for the rest of the game. The same idea holds true for sustainability to connect it.
Chess presents a unique opportunity for people to make mistakes and learn from them. Those in the field of sustainability have the challenge of finding the best continuation for society, so it is best to be strategic in our decision-making or we may soon be checkmated.
–Austin Powell
Climate Change: Information on Potential Economic Effects Could Help Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce Fiscal Exposure. (2017). Gao.gov. Retrieved 26 January 2018, from https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-720
Markushin, Y. (2013). 27 Great Chess Quotes from Magnus Carlsen. Thechessworld.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018, from https://thechessworld.com/articles/general-information/27-great-chess-quotes-from-magnus-carlsen/
Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. The Academy for Systems Change. Retrieved 26 January 2018, from http://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/