I love the story about the Sims. Reminds me of the story I wrote about my experience in GTA when I was given a trillion dollars.
I also love that you dug into the etymology of Sorge and what suffering truly means. I think there is a microcosm of meaning in just that. In our culture, we connote suffering with negative emotions, and so we avoid it at all costs. That's true in developing countries, but in America, we have the opposite problem-- too much ease. People are unwilling to suffer, to delay gratification, to practice discipline. We see it in their eating habits, the way they let their dogs get away with everything, the way they let their children do the same.
I would argue that games are not just about limitations and suffering, but about the eternal struggle to overcome them. As we play the game more, we get more experience, develop new powers, get better equipment, and this makes those earlier obstacles conquerable. But this only presents us with bigger challenges. But that's great.
In life, we don't want to just worry about the little problems (getting enough food, making enough money), but we want to spend our time worrying about big problems (how to create great art, alleviate the suffering of others, make the world a better place). Perhaps that is the "greater meaning" of suffering, to provide the resistance we need to grow stronger.
Or perhaps, it's all just for fun, as we play the game of life.
I love the story about the Sims. Reminds me of the story I wrote about my experience in GTA when I was given a trillion dollars.
I also love that you dug into the etymology of Sorge and what suffering truly means. I think there is a microcosm of meaning in just that. In our culture, we connote suffering with negative emotions, and so we avoid it at all costs. That's true in developing countries, but in America, we have the opposite problem-- too much ease. People are unwilling to suffer, to delay gratification, to practice discipline. We see it in their eating habits, the way they let their dogs get away with everything, the way they let their children do the same.
I would argue that games are not just about limitations and suffering, but about the eternal struggle to overcome them. As we play the game more, we get more experience, develop new powers, get better equipment, and this makes those earlier obstacles conquerable. But this only presents us with bigger challenges. But that's great.
In life, we don't want to just worry about the little problems (getting enough food, making enough money), but we want to spend our time worrying about big problems (how to create great art, alleviate the suffering of others, make the world a better place). Perhaps that is the "greater meaning" of suffering, to provide the resistance we need to grow stronger.
Or perhaps, it's all just for fun, as we play the game of life.
Reminds me of Gordon Gecko in the movie “Wall Street”, who said, “Greed is good.”
House of Leaves reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events, possibly the greatest series ever written. Just bought based on your rec!
“Imbuing meaning to tragedy is the realm of storytelling (mythos) – probably not through a shallow, philosophical essay like this.”🧐
‘... finding the poetry and humor of the solutions.’ This is how I want to move through life.
Also - I’ve just signed up to a short puppet making course - great timing with this essay.