The Socio Economic Olympics
| Enlightened Entrepreneurship Level – 1 of 16: NPC (Non Player Character) |
| Steps – 1.1.1: Game >> 1.1.2: Gamer >> 1.1.3: The Game of Life >> 1.1.4: Spiritual Gameplay |
| School Subjects: Game Design, Sports, Esports, Psychology, Philosophy, Cosmology |
| Reading List: Ready Player One, Leela, Never Knows Best, Matt Sherman Geek Psychology, Cyberpunk Documentary Series |
| Guild Prizekeeper: 🤱 The Caretaker || 🏥 Doctor | 🧹🧼 Custodian | 💪 Bodyguard | ⛑️🚒 Rescuer |
| Corresponding Build Button: 🔘: 🔢 KPI Button – Manifestation, Life Formula |
| Corresponding Inventory Item: 4 Positions To Guard |
| Prize: Learn to live life as a the most fun role playing game imaginable. |
EE 1.1.3: The Game of Life is the third sub-module in the foundational EE Level 1 of 16: NPC. Having moved beyond the passive NPC state, embraced the concept of life as a Game and replacing stress with fun by choosing to be a Gamer, this module provides practical tools and perspectives for consciously framing your existence as the ultimate playthrough. It’s about understanding the parameters of this unique “game” and choosing how you will play to level up as an Enlightened Entrepreneur.
Considering the Facts of Life
To effectively frame life as a game, we must first consider some of its inherent characteristics and “rules”:
- Time Limit: Life has a finite duration. Unlike some games where time is unlimited or can be reset, our time in this “playthrough” is precious and ticking. This reality emphasizes the importance of intentionality and making the most of the time we have.
- No True “Respawn” (in the traditional sense): While we can recover from setbacks and start anew in many ways, there’s no simple press of a button to restart life from the beginning with full knowledge of what’s to come. Each choice and experience builds upon the last, shaping a unique and irreversible narrative. This underscores the weight of our decisions and the value of learning from the past.
- Augmented Reality: Our perception of reality is constantly augmented by our senses, our thoughts, our beliefs, and the information we consume. We don’t experience raw reality, but rather a filtered and interpreted version of it. Understanding this “augmented reality” is crucial for discerning what is truly happening versus our interpretation of it, allowing us to better navigate the game.
- Agency and Willpower: As we established in EE 1.1.1: Gamer, we possess agency – the capacity to make independent choices – and willpower – the ability to act on those choices despite internal or external resistance. These are our primary tools within the game of life, allowing us to deviate from predetermined paths and actively pursue our objectives.
- NPC Habits: Despite our capacity for agency, we often fall into “NPC habits” – automatic, unconscious behaviors and thought patterns. Recognizing these habits is the first step to overriding them with conscious, intentional actions, thereby increasing our control over our gameplay.
These facts of life are not limitations to be feared, but rather the fundamental rules that define the unique challenge and opportunity of this particular game.
General Types of Games
Understanding different game genres can provide useful metaphors for framing various aspects of life. Some general types of games include:
- Role-Playing Games (RPGs): Focus on character development, narrative, quests, and exploring a vast world.
- Simulation Games: Aim to replicate real-world activities or systems, allowing players to manage resources, build structures, or simulate complex processes.
- Strategy Games: Emphasize planning, resource management, and tactical decision-making to achieve victory.
- Action Games: Center around physical challenges, combat, and quick reflexes.
- Puzzle Games: Require logical thinking and problem-solving to progress.
- Party Games: Designed for social interaction and lighthearted fun among multiple players.
Each genre offers a different lens through which to view challenges and interactions.
What Is the Best Game type and Tool for Framing Life?
While various game types offer valuable insights, framing life for Enlightened Entrepreneurship is arguably best served by a combination of the Life Simulation and Tycoon genres, situated within the context of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG).
- Life Simulation: This genre focuses on managing a character’s life, including their daily activities, relationships, skills, and well-being. It highlights the importance of balanced development and attending to various aspects of existence.
- Tycoon (or Business Simulation): This genre centers on building and managing a business or empire, emphasizing resource allocation, strategic investment, and growth. It directly relates to the entrepreneurial journey.
- MMORPG: This provides the context of a persistent, large-scale world populated by many other players. It acknowledges the social and interactive nature of life, where our actions occur within a complex network of other individuals also playing their own games.
Combining these genres provides a comprehensive framework: the Life Sim/Tycoon aspect emphasizes personal development and entrepreneurial building, while the MMORPG aspect accounts for the interconnectedness and social dynamics of the real world.
The best tool for framing life as this type of game is conscious awareness and intentional mindset shifting. It’s about actively choosing to see challenges as gameplay elements, interactions as multiplayer encounters, and personal growth as leveling up.
Example of Life Game Designs
Examining existing games can provide further clarity on how different mechanics and objectives can mirror or contrast with the game of life:
- World of Warcraft (WOW): A classic MMORPG emphasizing quests, character progression, teamwork in dungeons/raids, and a persistent world. Relates to life’s journey, collaboration, and long-term goals.
- EVE Online: A complex MMORPG focused on economics, industry, vast player-driven conflicts, and a single shared universe. Highlights the economic and political aspects of life and the impact of individual actions on a large scale.
- Inzoi: A life simulation game focused on detailed character customization and social interactions. Directly mirrors the personal and relational aspects of life.
- Ready Player One: While a fictional VR world, it presents a universe where a virtual game becomes a primary arena for economic activity, social interaction, and the pursuit of meaningful objectives. Illustrates the potential for blurring lines between physical and digital “gameplay.”
- The Sims: A life simulation game focused on managing characters’ needs, careers, relationships, and homes. A direct metaphor for the daily management and personal aspirations in life.
- Grand Theft Auto (GTA): An action-adventure game in a large open world with a focus on completing missions and often engaging in illicit activities. While not an ideal model for ethical living, it illustrates the concept of navigating an open world with agency and pursuing objectives, albeit within a fictional criminal context.
- Life Board Game: A simplified simulation of a life path, including career, family, and financial events. Provides a basic, linear model of life’s progression.
- Cashflow Board Game: Designed to teach financial literacy and investment principles. A direct tool for understanding and practicing the financial “game” within life.
- Monopoly Board Game: A game about real estate acquisition and wealth accumulation, highlighting strategic investment and negotiation. Illustrates aspects of the economic game, though simplified.
These examples, from complex digital worlds to physical board games, offer different abstractions of life’s components, providing a diverse set of metaphors to draw from.
Is Life the Ultimate VR MMORPG?
The question of whether life is literally the ultimate VR MMORPG can be approached from philosophical and practical angles:
- Philosophical Answer: Philosophically, this question touches upon the nature of reality, consciousness, and perception. Ideas like simulation theory propose that our reality might be a sophisticated simulation. Concepts like Maya in Hinduism suggest the world we perceive is an illusion or a form of divine play. From this perspective, framing life as a VR MMORPG can be a powerful philosophical lens, suggesting that our perceived reality is a construct, and our consciousness is the player within it.
- Practical Answer: Practically, regardless of philosophical debates about the nature of reality, treating life as if it were a VR MMORPG (specifically in the Life Sim/Tycoon genre) is a highly effective framing tool. It provides a structure for understanding our choices, interactions, and growth in a way that is empowering and actionable. It’s a mental model that helps us engage with life more intentionally, even if it’s not a literal digital simulation.
Ultimately, the practical application of the metaphor is the most relevant for Enlightened Entrepreneurship.
Here Is A Simple Way To Frame Life as The Game for Enlightened Entrepreneurship
A simple and effective way to frame life as the game for the purpose of Enlightened Entrepreneurship is to see it as a VR MMORPG in the Life Sim and Tycoon Genre, situated within the Socio Economic Olympics.
- VR MMORPG in the Life Sim and Tycoon Genre: You are the player character in a vast, persistent online world (Life). Your primary gameplay involves managing your personal development (Life Sim) and building your ventures (Tycoon). The “VR” aspect acknowledges that your experience is mediated by your perception and consciousness.
- Socio Economic Olympics: This is the overarching competitive and collaborative framework of the game.
- Demographics give you physical identity and group membership: Your inherent characteristics (age, location, background, etc.) are like your starting attributes and initial guild/faction affiliations. They provide a context for your early gameplay but do not solely define your potential.
- Teams are organized by event/personality/profession/guild: You naturally form connections and join groups based on shared interests, goals, professions, and values. These teams (businesses, communities, networks) are crucial for collaboration, support, and competing in various “events” (markets, industries, social causes). Connections and motivation within these teams significantly increase your probability of success.
- Winners are decided by the scoreboard: In the context of the Socio Economic Olympics, “winning” is often measured by various “scoreboards.” This could be financial success, positive impact on the world, personal well-being, or achieving specific milestones you set for yourself. The scoreboard is a metric for progress and achievement within the game.
By adopting this framing, you gain a clear perspective on your role as a player, the nature of the game world, the importance of your interactions with others, and the metrics for measuring your progress as you strive to level up as an Enlightened Entrepreneur. It transforms the abstract challenges of life and business into concrete, navigable gameplay.
Sources
The History of MMOs (and where it all went wrong)
