The Madness of Playing Games
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Arts Entertainment -> subcategory Humanities.
The Intrigue of Playing Games
Summary:
Imagine a lone, disheveled person standing on a soapbox claiming they should be Prime Minister. A passing psychiatrist might diagnose them with a mental disturbance. But if millions rallied around that same shabby figure, the diagnosis might change dramatically, colored with political tones.
Article:
Consider a solitary, unkempt figure proclaiming from a soapbox their ambition to become Prime Minister. A passing psychiatrist might easily suspect a mental disturbance. However, if the same professional witnessed millions rallying around this figure, their assessment could dramatically shift, influenced by political implications.
The key difference between societal games and madness often lies in numbers; madness is solitary, while social games involve many. As Karen Horney and others have demonstrated, the definition of mental disorders varies with culture. Behaviors deemed pathological in one era or place might be accepted in another, highlighting that disturbances, even psychoses, are contextual.
Historical figures like Nietzsche, Van Gogh, Hitler, and Herzl transitioned from the margins to central roles by attracting a critical mass at just the right moment. Biblical prophets and religious figures, possibly experiencing psychotic episodes, bear similar stories. The likes of Hitler and Herzl might have had personality disorders, while the prophets were likely psychotic.
Games are inherently reversible, leaving no lasting mark on history or society. This distinguishes them from other activities: actions within a game aren’t intended to be permanent. Games, thus, are only faintly linked to memory and are meant to be forgotten over time.
Unlike most human endeavors, games are entropic. They start with order only to be deconstructed. Video games, emphasizing destruction, epitomize this concept. Games reflect our temporary nature and imminent mortality?"truths we usually suppress to avoid paralysis by existential dread.
Religious rituals, akin to games, often center on confronting mortality. They anchor religious practice and are similar to obsessive-compulsive behaviors, both responding to the repressed emotions surrounding death. It is this movement from acknowledging the temporary nature of games to assigning them importance that transitions the personal realm to the societal stage.
From madness, we progress through games to societal rituals, eventually forming myths?"systems dictating permissible questions and often resisting external scrutiny.
Games appear strange and aimless when observed from the outside, without obvious utility. This external observation threatens mythologies, leading insiders to rely on introspection and forming exclusive castes that differentiate participants from outsiders. This transition from game to myth serves to suppress recognition of mortality, as myths instead promote repression of this unavoidable truth.
Today's global interconnectedness intensifies our sense of being boxed in; however, in the future, space travel might expand these boundaries, with longevity remaining our ultimate constraint. Mortality, paradoxically, drives action and maintains a sense of wonder.
This evolution from madness to games to myths adheres to the overarching game of survival, driven by unpredictability and a denial of temporal and spatial limits. The drive for resource optimization and increased order is part of this system. Money, as a symbol, gains its power here, measuring game and myth outcomes.
Money provides information about survival, performance, and identity in an information-saturated world. It establishes social hierarchies that simplify decision-making. For example, a stock’s price is assumed to reflect all available information about it. Similarly, one’s wealth suggests survival ability and societal contribution.
Money, associated with love and attention?"elements vital for survival?"ultimately connects humanity's progress from individual games to broader myths and social structures. As we navigate this path, we edge ever closer to the information money represents, drawing us back to the age-old question: who will survive?
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