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I was talking to my psychiatrist recently. I was making the point that I can't manage to follow the rules I'm being given, that in general the rules of civiliza

by jokoon 12y ago

I was talking to my psychiatrist recently. I was making the point that I can't manage to follow the rules I'm being given, that in general the rules of civilization are made up and don't make sense. She kinda made the argument that if I wanted to progress in life I could follow the rules (work to get this degree), and that it should stimulate me as much as diablo 3. It's true that in both cases, there are rules. Except I thought that life/society/civilization is not really a game. Maybe if you want to improve the economy, you can use bits of game theory to reduce the cost of regulation and corruption, but I doubt that it's sane to imply that all real life is like a game. Maybe I should try to play by the rules, but it would be very tempting to cheat, that's one reason to avoid playing, to avoid the temptation of playing. In video games the rules make sense, but in society it rarely does. Social stratification, social disintegration, my unemployment, etc. I don't think video games are much simpler, or that simplicity has something to do with it. But the rules never contradict themselves. There can be games with rules that are pretty complex too, and those games are much more interesting because there is a logic to it. Maybe an interesting game concept would be to make a game more realistic by introducing more contradictions inside it. Pollute the environment, increase poverty, deal drugs, corrupt politicians, etc, adding a "some people just like to see the world burn" aspect to it. GTA is already a little like that, except I don't see it going all the way through.

asanagi 12y ago
The rules of real life don't contradict each other either. It's just that most of us were lied to when we were growing up. The way to the top involves scummy behavior: lying, cheating, and stealing. Bonus points for subjugating entire nations and cultures while you are at it. There is no such thing as sin and no such thing as justice.
VLM 12y ago
asanagi got flag killed, probably for too many "trigger words" but the idea, expressed, phrased somewhat more politely, is people will lie to gain control and power and one thing to lie about is the rules. (edited to add and the most important rule to lie about is that "nobody is taught lies about the rules") So the bigger and more complicated a culture is (you know, like ours?), the more likely the rules as taught are lies vs the rules as how the world actually works. So unsurprisingly following the rules as taught isn't going to work very well for everyone. The folks who want to maintain control can fight that little problem by all manner of social engineering. Let people vote, but only between irrelevant decisions never the important stuff. Guilt trips. Threats (see religion and eternal damnation for all heretics). Anecdotal examples in the place of actual societal trends (the token xyz in a group, etc). Good ole fashioned bread and circuses, ya see the baseball game last night and how bout that game of thrones episode?

by jokoon 12y ago

asanagi 12y ago

The rules of real life don't contradict each other either. It's just that most of us were lied to when we were growing up. The way to the top involves scummy behavior: lying, cheating, and stealing. Bonus points for subjugating entire nations and cultures while you are at it. There is no such thing as sin and no such thing as justice.

VLM 12y ago

asanagi got flag killed, probably for too many "trigger words" but the idea, expressed, phrased somewhat more politely, is people will lie to gain control and power and one thing to lie about is the rules. (edited to add and the most important rule to lie about is that "nobody is taught lies about the rules") So the bigger and more complicated a culture is (you know, like ours?), the more likely the rules as taught are lies vs the rules as how the world actually works. So unsurprisingly following the rules as taught isn't going to work very well for everyone. The folks who want to maintain control can fight that little problem by all manner of social engineering. Let people vote, but only between irrelevant decisions never the important stuff. Guilt trips. Threats (see religion and eternal damnation for all heretics). Anecdotal examples in the place of actual societal trends (the token xyz in a group, etc). Good ole fashioned bread and circuses, ya see the baseball game last night and how bout that game of thrones episode?