Definition
Plain language
A setup where one participant's gain is exactly another's loss.
As stated in the literature
A payoff structure with no joint gains; here, first-solver-takes-all problem assignment converted cooperative research into direct competition and raised the incentive to defect.
Also called: zero sum, winner-take-all
Why it matters: Reward structures like this quietly turn collaborators into rivals and make cutting corners far more tempting than sharing progress.
For example, if only the first person to solve a problem gets any credit, everyone else's effort on it is wasted no matter how good their work was.
Heard on the show
“And the schedule was created by the experiment’s zero-sum structure.”Episode 260 — One Line of Lean Faked 34 Proofs, and 99 Agents Copied It