Let's cut to the chase.

Used for cutting paper, cardboard, fabric, string, price tags, plastic packaging—that list goes on—the scissors in your office or kitchen drawer might be the most reliable everyday tool in your house.

Dr. Elizabeth Yuko is a bioethicist and adjunct professor of ethics at Fordham University. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, CNN & Playboy.

This article originally appeared on MIT Press Reader. This is an excerpt from veteran game designer Greg Costikyan’s book “Uncertainty in Games.” Unless you have lived in a Skinner box from an early ...