caffeine, concentration, and caterpillars

[quarrel]

I went two solid weeks without caffeine. (To be precise, without caffeinated drinks. I still ate some chocolate.) The only thing I got for my trouble was headaches almost every day for the entire duration. I didn’t feel any more alert or aware. I didn’t perform better at work. The final test was two boardgaming nights ago. The first game was 7 Wonders, with the Leaders expansion. I performed satisfyingly well, finishing around 3rd place in an all-around close game. So far, so good! Then we played two games of The Resistance, and I utterly imploded during the second. The game is like “Werewolf” (a.k.a. “Mafia”) but with more mechanics that add an element of logical deduction to what would otherwise be a game based solely around acting convincing. Some players are secretly spies and win as soon as three out of five missions fail. The other players are loyal and win if three missions succeed. Any spy can automatically sabotage a mission he is on, but if the spies are too obvious, the loyalists can figure out who they are and prevent them from going on missions in the first place. In the game in question, I was loyal, but the other loyal players were absolutely and unanimously convinced I was a spy. I’d screwed up so badly that even when one turn’s outcome showed it was logically impossible for me to be a spy, people were more willing to believe someone had misplayed a card than that I was telling the truth.

What had I done so horribly wrong? I was reluctant to answer questions about what I’d seen of other players’ cards. My rationale was that anything a loyalist could say, a spy could also say, therefore no possible answer carried any weight and no one had any reason to believe me, so why bother? I didn’t see the point in answering at all, much less answering honestly. In hindsight, and looking at the big picture, proper strategy is embarrassingly obvious. A loyalist should answer all questions, and quickly, and honestly, because he has nothing to hide. (He doesn’t want to trick the other loyalists about what side he’s on, and he can’t trick the spies because all the spies know everyone’s affiliation.) In contrast, a spy can’t always be honest because her side would lose, and being quick is difficult because she has to be dishonest in precise ways. There’s also the long-term view to consider. Even if saying “I’m loyal” or “Joe played a sabotage card” is backed by zero evidence when you say it, confirmations arise later. The other shoe can’t drop if the first never did.

Alas, none of this occurred to me. I simply didn’t see it. None of this stuff that other people just automatically know or intuit unconsciously came into focus even when I thought about it (or maybe…because?) It’s the same pitfall that locked me out of a game of Quo Vadis the one time I played: I refused to make any trades where another player benefitted more than I did, so I came in dead last. Sigh.

Anyway. I’m still keeping the caffeine down to one cup a day, max, because I hated getting headaches when I missed my morning joe. It turns out I really like rooibos tea, which has been a huge help. I also don’t care for the office coffee anymore, so yay that.