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A common exercise I have people do in my workshops, is to quantify how much they enjoy recieving massage, using the numbers 1-10. Assigning numerical values to what we like is a good way to understand a lot of decisions we are faced with in life.

When weighing decisions, such as to moving to a different town for a better job, we do this all of the time. Consider the pros and cons of each choice, and then we make a selection.

Most of these decisions we make are FULL of variables to consider, such as(in the moving for work example) How much more money we would make, how often we would meet our old friends, how long it would take to get make new friends, how our kids schoolyear would be affected, or how secure the new job would be. I could go on and on here, as could you. Even small things, such as not being able to visit your favorite restaurant(or massage therapist for that matter) come in to play.

What does game theory have to do with massage?

Usually, I’d say not too much. But what this article is supposed to do, is to persuade you to massage each other more. So, do this quick exercise in your head:

Answer these 2 questions:

1st, On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the most pleasureable, how much do you enjoy recieving a massage?

A lot of people draw blank, as they have never had a full body massage, but you HAVE recieved massage at some point in your life. How good does it feel?

2nd, On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the most painful thing you have experienced, how much displeasure or inconvenience is it for you to GIVE a massage?

Now, compare these two answers…

In my workshops, About 80% answer an 7 or above on the pleasure recieved from massage. It feels very good, and If the person has even a little training, the number their partner later uses always climbs.

As for the amount of misery the giving massage causes(Q#2), about 80% answer 3 or less. Some even misunderstand the question, and say it GIVES them pleasure to massage, but I am looking for how much the work done wears on you.

Conclusion:

If you and your partner massage each other equal amounts of time, then the output in work is categorically less than the amount of pleasure created by doing this as a habit. Giving 30 minutes of massage to recieve 30 minutes back in return is more than worth it.

This shouldn’t be complex of a ‘calculation’ at all. You don’t need to make it as complicated as moving to a different town for me to prove to you that you have to massage each other. Only look at these two variables when you make you decision for the evening.

1: How much it “costs” to give massage, and

2: How much is “pays” to recieve a massage.

Naturally, it’s more complex than this. If you massage each other for 10 minutes every night, you are creating *$7000 of value a year for each other. You are changing what the ‘role’ of your partner to you, and vice versa. You are creating a ritual of giving to each other to look forward to every night. You don’t even need to be lovers to do this for someone you care about.

A beautiful mind.

I have obviously studied game theory to persuade you from this angle to massage each other. Remember that Russell Crowe movie A beautiful mind? This clip shows, that you can be massaging eachother in your own self interest.

So, If you are spending 30 minutes at a “pleasure” level of 8, and 30 minutes at an “inconvenience” of 2, then it should be obvious that you are much better off in the end of the hour, than in the beginning.

Clearly the REWARD outdoes the EFFORT.

So, if you only have a few, read this article, which will explain how you can go about massaging each other tonight.

If you have a little more time, start with this article series, which will teach you how to do it like a professional.

If you want some more game theory, check out the *chicken/meat metafor. 

Otherwise, please tell me how this made sense to you below!