The article shows how deep preparation and complex mid-stages—once vital in chess, military campaigns, and engineering—have been squeezed out by simulation, forcing everyone to leap straight to the “endgame.” It warns that modeling a terminal state isn’t the same as reaching it and urges us to embrace the unpredictable middle instead of reciting a pre-computed script.

• Chess prep has shifted from deep, uncertain middlegame battles (like Kasparov's 1985 title-clinching draw) to memorized, computer-solved openings blitzed through in seconds.
• Modern warfare mirrors this: instead of massive campaigns like the Schlieffen Plan or Normandy, planners favor targeted strikes and raids that skip straight to foreordained outcomes.
• Elon Musk exemplifies the same pattern in tech, leaping past practical bottlenecks (powering GPUs in orbit, building chip fabs) straight to endgame visions like space-based solar power or AI satellites.
• Simulating or naming a terminal state isn't the same as actually reaching it—skipping the unpredictable middle stages leaves out complexities that determine real outcomes.