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"The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." What we get in the real world is actual novelty, believe it or not. There's 7 bil

by yen223 12y ago

"The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." What we get in the real world is actual novelty, believe it or not. There's 7 billion people out here, each with their own unique storyline. There's a billion different things to do out here. You could go swimming out near the Great Barrier Reef. You could learn to bake a cake. Heck, you could be building video games for others to enjoy. Any one of these activities lead to a tangible experience which rewards you in a way that no virtual world ever could. The thing that kicked me out of my video game addiction was the realization that with video games, I was doing the same damn thing over and over again. Get a gun, and shoot everything with a red aura. Or get a sword, and hack everyone with a red aura. Or build an empire, and burn down every building with a red aura. The worse part was that after going through the motions, I had absolutely nothing to show for it. That empire I built, gone. The world I "saved", disappeared as soon as the PC was off.

aianus 12y ago
> The worse part was that after going through the motions, I had absolutely nothing to show for it. That empire I built, gone. The world I "saved", disappeared as soon as the PC was off. This isn't any different than real life. Everything you will ever do or build will disappear (to you) as soon as you die. If you're the type who believes in leaving a legacy, then consider the heat death of the universe instead of your personal death.
- egypturnash 12y ago
  Most people aren't capable of taking quite that long a view. It is very unlikely that anything you do in a video game will persist more than a few years, let alone beyond your death. If you do things in the real world, there is some chance of a legacy that persists past your life and affects people after you're dead, whether it be kids, a house you built, a book you wrote, or whatnot. Ultimately, yes, all our works are but tears in the rain. But if you take that view too long and too hard it's easy to sink into ennui and just let yourself wither away; why bother?
- shenanigoat 12y ago
  "I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away." -Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

by yen223 12y ago

aianus 12y ago

> The worse part was that after going through the motions, I had absolutely nothing to show for it. That empire I built, gone. The world I "saved", disappeared as soon as the PC was off. This isn't any different than real life. Everything you will ever do or build will disappear (to you) as soon as you die. If you're the type who believes in leaving a legacy, then consider the heat death of the universe instead of your personal death.

egypturnash 12y ago
Most people aren't capable of taking quite that long a view. It is very unlikely that anything you do in a video game will persist more than a few years, let alone beyond your death. If you do things in the real world, there is some chance of a legacy that persists past your life and affects people after you're dead, whether it be kids, a house you built, a book you wrote, or whatnot. Ultimately, yes, all our works are but tears in the rain. But if you take that view too long and too hard it's easy to sink into ennui and just let yourself wither away; why bother?
shenanigoat 12y ago
"I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away." -Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley