“Confrontation” The Game People Play

“Confrontation” is the primeval and basic game played solely by people, that is, by beings who clearly perceive themselves to be human beings and not by infants, retardates, some so-called schizophrenics, even the most intelligent of animals, and liberated “seers.” Particular games people play are sub-games deriving from this single source-game, and until it is unmasked and halted games will continue proliferating.

There are five indications that “Confrontation” is a Life Game in the TA sense. (1) It is surreptitious, not candid, and goes on unrecognized, with our implicit or explicit approval. (2) It progressively reduces and spoils our natural intimacy, spontaneity, and sensory awareness. (3) Fear, anger, distress, and maneuvers aimed at avoidance are typical responses to its threatened unmasking. (4) From its earlier history as a “good” and necessary game, it is fast becoming (simply because it is a game and dishonest, and therefore in the end self-defeating) a “bad” and indeed suicidal one, crying out for our immediate recognition and counter-measures. The urgency is underscored by the many-sided threat it now poses to its players, to people everywhere, to the very survival of humanity and many other species. (5) The fact that, since each of us learned it, the game can be unlearned, and the fact that it is superfluous and can with immense and all-round benefit be opted out of, are demonstrated by the lives and teachings over the past 3,000 years of notable non-players – “seers” belonging to all religions and none whose numbers seem to be increasing.