Had a fun visit to Japan and got an interesting illustration of a 'gamer' approach to things vs a 'rational' approach. Gamers approach each encounter open minded about the mechanics, rational people approach an encounter with the pre-held expectations they have reasoned to.

ahh yes, fintech bros, who were famously raised to believe that "no travel budget" does not mean "open loop spending"

The reasoned approach doesn't work on Japanese vending machines (or restaurants) as each encounter has its own set of mechanics it seems.