Game of Life

( This is not about the Conway’s Game of Life, although there are here some overlapping theories )

If you see life as a game, then maybe you can use strategic thinking to optimize it.

The Goal

Nature’s Purpose

Make no mistake about it, you are a random event of nature, whose purpose, like as any other animal out there, is to continue specie survival.

whats the life purpose of a lion ? of a ant ? of a flower ?

So you are somewhat optimized for that, examples of bugs in the “matrix”:

• Sex drive overrules rational thinking. People do extremely stupid things to get laid.
• Kids takes your time / money / sleep / relationship / fun away, but you still can’t stop yourself from forgiving, loving and wanting them.

The Higher Purpose

Humans have big brains and like to complicate stuff, so normally happens, we search for a higher meaning in life, for something more. Also because nowadays we live longer and the survival is getting easier (mass production food, governments / organizations that assure basics needs, etc…).

So often we go the route of doing something big, a higher purpose, with the argument that it will be recognized by all of the human civilization: scientific achievement, art, books, peer recognition, etc… Some things even influence others long after the author’s death, that is very cool, no doubt, but i think that each of these achievements are a means to an end and the “end” is in fact just a search for feeling good and happy.

Feeling good and happy is what you been trying to get to all along. (And of course minimize the feeling bad / sad moments, the negative happy).

So, what do you feel good about ?

Although people feel good about many of the same things (like sex, food, entertainment, peer recognition), it also happens that what you feel good about is very much influenced by your upbringing, life experience and expectations. Plus, it changes over your lifetime.

( And this is a good thing in the sense of limited resources competition, if people are happy different about different things, then they don’t need to run over each other for the same thing. ex: money has this problem now. )

The scientist who does a theoretical breakthrough, a biologist who discovers a new bug specie, owning a Ferrari, owning a car, playing a concert, working in IT, traveling around. These achievements / events might be received as extremely happy, less happy, neutral or even unhappy depending on the person.

So go figure out what things makes you feel good and set it as your end goal. And be aware that it might change over time.

The Game

Briefing:

• What is the goal (what makes you feel good) ?
• Your resources:
  • Basic Resources:
    • Time
    • Money
    • Health
  • Developed Skills:
    • Professional Job Skills
    • Languages
    • Motivation
    • Being productive
    • Eating healthy (+ exercising)
    • Understanding & Influencing people
    • etc…

Picking up the right skills to develop in is very important

You can develop further skills to open up new possibilities and maybe achieve the goals to a fuller extend (or new goals). But your basic resources are limited, and you will have to trade off some resources to be able to develop a new skill. So pick wisely, similar to investing money.

• Learning english opens up many coutries you can go to, many new literature and information resources you will be able to access. Is in fact the closest to a standard language (in the western world).
• Computer programming skills can get you a (nice) job almost anywhere in the world.
• Being nice and understading people can help make new friends.

And some new skills might take you nowhere closer to your goals.

Phases of the game

• baby
• teenage
• young adult
• parent
• old

Over the years, resources availability will naturally vary:

• Kids don’t have money.
• Parents don’t have time.
• Old’s don’t have (good) health.

So there’s the need to plan, to optimize experience.

Reference

• http://oliveremberton.com/2014/life-is-a-game-this-is-your-strategy-guide/
• The Science Behind a Happy Relationship: http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/a09nZ7z_700b_v3.jpg