I finished watching Squid Game a few weeks ago and still have all these swirling thoughts about the series. Through a few basic survival games, the show brings to light wealth inequality, capitalism, and other aspects of the human condition. Trying to find the loose threads between the show's deeper meaning and data literacy is a tough exercise. If you are interested in another Excel or Google Sheets tip, this episode ain't for you. But if you spend time analyzing and optimizing your personal and professional lives, then the idea here might be of interest. Or, I could be over analyzing and simplifying these concepts. Either way, hopefully we'll learn something about ourselves afterwards.

Source: POPSUGAR

The most pivotal scene in Squid Game

I can't not mention my most favorite scene in the whole series. Through this short scene, you learn the premise of the whole show: rules. These scene also sparked the direction I wanted to take with this post. You learn why the games exist, why the players decided to stay in the game (after episode 2), and how a strict adherence to rules is the most important strategy to staying alive in the games.

The scene is the start of episode 6 where the players are being led into a room to play the game with the marbles. As they walk through the dollhouse-like stairs, they see the doctor and some of the guards hanging from the ceiling. Then someone comes on the loudspeaker:

Source: Netflix

Players, what you witness before you is what remains of those who broke the rules for their own benefit. They tainted the pure and fair ideology everything here has been built upon. Each and every one of you is considered an equal within the walls of this facility. You must be guaranteed the same opportunities without being disadvantaged or facing any kind of discrimination. We truly apologize for allowing such an unacceptable incident to occur.

No subtleties, subtexts, or posturing. I love how black and white the translation is. Mike Hale, TV critic at The New York Times had this to to say about the show's commentary on socioeconomic classes:

But what probably puts it over the top is the aspect of the series that most makes me dislike it: its pretense of contemporary social relevance, a thin veneer of pertinence meant to justify the unrelenting carnage that is the show’s most conspicuous feature. [...] Its goal, a common one at the moment, is to ingratiate itself with its audience by confirming their accepted ideas.Mike Hale, The New York Times

To be fair, Hale is approaching the show from a TV critic's point of view. I agree with Hale's opinion that the show isn't really saying anything new about capitalism and why we need to "take down the rich." But he misses the effect of the show's direct approach at calling out the issues of today. Perhaps some of us have simple minds and we need to be told things directly and in layman's terms. In my opinion, the more direct the approach, the more it makes you question these "accepted ideas" Hale speaks of.

Rules and norms

We've established that the Squid Game world is a "fair world," and everyone gets a fair shot at winning each game. The front man and his underlings make sure of this by hanging the doctor and some of the guards in the scene above.

While each game's rules are meant to be followed, norms also play a role in how the players behave. You have the woman who drops the marble and the her opponent quickly yells at her...