I had this dream last year, I wrote it down and remembered it recently for no reason, so I thought I'll share, since it's so interesting. Well, to me. It was like a riddle, like a task, a question. It said:

"When a man and a robot are playing the Icelandic game, and the right answer in this game is a bad thing, will any of the players avoid to start first?"

I have no idea what the Icelandic game is. In the dream I saw it like a chessboard, with a square card on each square, and under the cards there were questions. Players in turn uncover cards and answer the questions.
Now, I know it makes no sense. Maybe I shouldn't have posted it at all, or post it in a writers' and artists' hangout....as a form of art, subconscious creation... I don't really think this dream means something about my life... But it fascinates me, it seems to have certain logic in it. I was trying to solve it. I thought it has something to do with an ability to risk, or maybe ability to lie, or ability to plan ahead... That's why one of the players is a robot. But what does it has to do with who starts first? Maybe there are some secret rules about this game that I don't know?
Yes, I know it all sounds a bit crazy. However, maybe someone has any ideas about this? Creative ones? Some guesses, something I missed?
Thank you for reading

interesting but i cannot understand that riddle

Odd results from mathematics sometimes percolate into the culture. It is a theorem that there is a winning strategy for white, the player who moves first, in chess. The theorem does not say what the strategy is, just that it exists.

This gets discussed by a lot of people. There are other, similar, results from game theory as well (when is moving first an advantage?), and these get discussed in all sorts of contexts (military war gaming, for instance).

Such ideas may have seeped into your head from any number of sources, and on a night when you had little else to mull over, you played around with this.

maybe im being too simplistic, an u should take my interpret with "pin' o'bra" but the feeling i get from this dream is that u are afeared to take a certain course of action that u think u should. its the usual head over heart scenario, u know u should do a certain thing, but u dont want to.
now its not necessarily sumthing serious like dumping ur b/f or dropping out an could be something like buying a pair o jeans or a blouse !!! its a shame ye dont know what was troubling u at the time but be sure its not going to kill ye

Min xx

thanks for your replies.

yes, PulsE, I know, me too


Eight bits, this actually helped a bit... I haven't thought about this. Moving first as an advantage. That's why the game looked like chess. The first one - the white one... and the fact that correct answer is bad = winning is bad? To move first and win is bad?... Well, I'm still guessing, but you gave me new food for thought...


Thanks Showgirl, it may be, but I really don't remember what was going on at the time...
Anyway... Thanks again:)

maybe this icelandic game is a game of destiny. their future will be decided by the correct answer. say the right answer is "you will die tomorrow". to be correct would mean certain death. the robot, I believe will most likely be programmed to win the game, it has no free will. on the other hand, humans don't always make the right decision. Maybe this riddle is saying to not be like the robot, sometimes choosing the wrong decision will ultimately lead to better things.

this all depends on the rules, of course. maybe the penalty for loosing is worse than whatever bad thing the right answer will spawn.

The other question to ask is how they will know the right answer will be bad. It isn't much of a game if you know the answer beforehand.

Maybe the answer has to be a bad thing? like every question demands a bad thing as an answer in order to continue playing?

Or maybe the answer is there is no correct answer because everything can be a bad thing when used in the wrong way? So none of the players would avoid playing first because all answers are correct.

both will refuse.

the question being when will you die

the answer being i already did

the first to answer would cease to exist.

the robot will refuse in order to win

and the human will refuse in order to live.

how interesting replies indeed.
By saying "the right answer in this game is a bad thing" i actually mean that to answer correctly is not good, it is not right, like you lose points or whatever. By "bad" I didn't mean death or something. But maybe it's not too important. I don't see it could be completely solved anyway...
How can you avoid to start first? It is usually determined randomly, by chance...

sounds as if there are more than two playes, by saying 'will any', if there were only two players, I'd expect it to say 'either'.

Anyways, the part about a man and a robot opposing each other, maybe it means machine will turn against man or something (sounds like a film or something =3 )
Game, referring to life maybe, some do say that life is a game.
'The right answer' part, maybe the answer is the truth to something, though sometimes the truth isn't always a good thing, maybe it means that the truth will reveal your plan, and lead to your downfall, or the truth will bring insanity and desruction.
Finally, the part about avoiding starting first, I've heard a saying like 'he who strikes first reveals his weakness', or something like that.

Or maybe, the right answer showed something that the players wish to avoid, but it's too late to stop it?

Well, anyway, that's how I'd interpret it, very interesting riddle thing

well it's a translation, I'm not english, so i don't dream in english

i havnt a clue as to wat this could mean

I think..........if the man KNOWS how the robot is programmed and the robot is programmed
to answer correctly then he (the man) will avoid going first.

But if the man doesn't know how the robot is programmed then he won't avoid going first...in
fact he will want to go first to give the wrong answer.......


Soooooo.....maybe.....unless the robot is programmed to avoid going first......only the man has
the flexability to exercise subtle decisions like avoidance.......so I'll answer......."Yes, the man."


PS....this is trickier and more complicated than it seems at first.......nice riddle justejust.

Hello eight bits
I must say that i'm always stunned by your knowledge ..I'm impressed !!

Speaking from more of a creative viewpoint than scientific, I'd say this dream is mainly concerned with emotional involvement and relationships.

The robot may represent you and a partner (or someone you're attracted to) being unable to show their true feelings: acting robotically. We've all played the "Icelandic game" at some stage. It's usually referred to as "playing it cool". Making the first move could be perceived as a bad thing since it involves the possibility of rejection.

As a man, I've found that even the right answer can be wrong when dealing with a woman.

Continously give the wrong answer....if you try to answer wrong, what is the probability of getting it right lol.....talk about bad luck if you do.

I couldn't help but think of the movie 'Wargames' (Joshua- A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? )

I find your dream quite interesting, especially in the name of the game. I have read that Iceland and Greenland, when named were confused and the intended names were given erroneously to the inappropriate island. Iceland is quite warm considering it is in the north Atlantic and Greenland is quite cold.
I have read through the posts to this point and if I understand your question, the answer is that the only good thing would be “not to start”.

Let’s look at the riddle:
"When a man and a robot are playing the Icelandic game, and the right answer in this game is a bad thing, will any of the players avoid to start first?"

The robot is going to know that the best move is not to make one. However men are risk takers, throwing caution to the wind, and he will be the one to move first.