Kobayashi Maru
No-Win Scenario
A training exercise in the Star Trek universe designed to test cadets in a no-win scenario. Captain Kirk 'wins' by altering the original conditions of the game — seen either as cheating or creative problem-solving.
Origin
Screenwriter Jack B. Sowards created the scenario for the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the film, the Kobayashi Maru is a Starfleet Academy training simulation designed as an unwinnable test of character — until Captain Kirk reveals he beat it by reprogramming the simulation. The scenario has since become a widely used metaphor for facing impossible dilemmas or redefining the rules of a no-win situation.
Everyday Use
We encounter so many mundane challenges in our day-to-day, and so many are not only of our own making, but we forget that we don't have to play by the rules that that game prefers, but that we can instill our own — put the phone down, don't need to respond to that email, tell them you love them for no reason.