Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
Life as Roleplaying Game: beyond metaphor
duus | Oct 20 2007
UPDATED. The purpose of those post is to start a discussion on viewing self-betterment/productivity hacking/etc as a role-playing-game-like character advancement process. I have read some places of this idea as a compelling metaphor, but I am considering the value of moving it beyond metaphor, to the point that I am literally creating a "character class" for myself and designing a character sheet, etc. Below are excerpts of a post by Steve Pavlina ("Personal Development for Smart People") who was someone I read often about a year ago, and I thought some of his advice was at par with the kind I found here on 43Folders. (Aside: over the last year or so, Pavlina has taken a sharp turn toward what I consider to be oddly supernatural concerns ("being a lightworker" and "the Law of Attraction" and stuff like that), so I've stopped following him so closely. But some of his advice is very useful & insightful, regardless.) Quote:
"Even skill-based games... involve compelling choices. There are tactical choices as well as training choices. What skills will you seek to develop and when? How much time are you willing to invest? How will you leverage your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses? Read the whole post: This is my thought: perhaps I can push this beyond a metaphor. I, like I imagine many here, played roleplaying games when I was younger and wrote fiction and invested a lot of time in developing fictional characters, thinking about their life trajectories and how they accumulate skills etc. I have also, of course, invested time in developing my own skill & career &c. However, in my own life I have not approached it as holistically as I have for my 'characters.' It has been more piecemeal: I should work out more or I should learn to meditate or I should go to gradschool or I should learn to play the guitar. Perhaps there is something to be gained by treating myself as one of these characters: explicitly construct a character sheet, skills to accumulate, a 'character class' or whatever. Perhaps this is a way to more effectively transform my life into an exciting and interesting game with explicit direction. I plan on using this forum as a place to develop this idea. I would also like to pose some questions to the hive mind: 1. Do you think this kind of enterprise might be valuable to you? 2. What aspects of 'roleplaying' or fictional character creation/development would be more or less useful, in your opinion? 3. Have you attempted something like this before? 4. Have you encountered other resources that might be useful for an enterprise like this? Books, websites, posts, etc? Thanks. UPDATE: has own page with some updated pdfs now: duus's the modern life as roleplaying game: beyond metaphor. 7 Comments
POSTED IN:
 Further InvestigationSubmitted by LionKimbro on March 31, 2008 - 10:27pm.
Two things I have found, in addition.
What this suggests then, (if the metaphor applies) is that role playing efforts may work dramatically better when there are other people with other roles who are collaborating with you in your role play. This makes sense, just considering teams and religions; In a certain sense, the people are living in a collective fantasy (such as a game of football, or a religious belief structure.) I have admired how, in Japan, the Japanese say, "Hello" to the picture of their dead mother, even though she has passed away. (This seems like a much more connected way of living, to me.) I tried to emulate this in the United States, but was too embarrassed to try: Nobody else would understand what I was doing. It has become clear to me that spirituality and spiritual practice is not a solitary practice (even for monks,) that it is always connected with society. Not only monks-- hermits, too! Because a hermit has to be known as a hermit, in order to be distinguished from a thief, a monster, (and so on.) Hermits are socially regarded as wise and original, after all. So if you are going to role play life, it may be very beneficial to find others who you interact with daily, to reinforce your (and their) roles. Something to consider. I believe papers found at http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/ may contribute to your inquiry as well. » POSTED IN:
|
|
| EXPLORE 43Folders | THE GOOD STUFF |
