Sports analogies are good, but: Any% (Anything goes to get to the "end") Video game speedruns may be ideal - a shortcut can always be found, used by everyone t

Sports analogies are good, but: Any% (Anything goes to get to the "end") Video game speedruns may be ideal - a shortcut can always be found, used by everyone to quickly become zero sum + 1, then the equilibrium re-approaches optimization; but on average, gets harder and harder, as the shortcuts take skill/power/time. It also is hard to do, and easy(ish) to verify. For linear things that hardly have any variance, you can look at longest lifespans of humans. Notably; where living 18 months longer than the next person statistically makes it more likely that you are actually your own mother and lied.