On Mon, 2014-03-03 at 07:53 +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: Pasted here so I can refer to it later, in case of bitrot. But you > should really read this at the URL below, with all illustrations. > > Comments? > > Udhay > > http://oliveremberton.com/2014/life-is-a-game-this-is-your-strategy-guide/ >
I am going to start with a quote from the end of the article. It is not my intention to argue with the premise of the article, but to point out that "the way one should live life" has been studied through the ages and Indian culture has some different recommendations that are visibly practised even today. Here's the quote: > That’s why your strategy is important. Because by the time most of us > have figured life out, we’ve used up too much of the best parts. The article looks at life like a single player game. Life can be a single player game or a team game in which multiple players cooperate. In India life is defined as a multiple player game in which your life is played in family and society from the day you are born. The article says: > > The first 15 years or so of life are just tutorial missions, which suck. > > There’s no way to skip these > > Correct, but according to Indian rules, it is the responsibility of parents, who are already past this phase to assist children in this phase so that they are taught life skills and are not left in debt at the end. The team rule is that the parents should not concentrate on simply improving their own individual lives, but sacrifice time and effort on one's child/children > > Your willpower level is especially important. Willpower fades throughout > > the day, and is replenished slightly by eating, and completely by a good > > night’s sleep. When your willpower is low, you are only able to do > > things you really want to This statement really throws up the contrast between life as mooted in Indian culture and what the author believes life should be like. Let me explain that. In his recommendation the author concentrates on the individual. Its about what "you" need to do and what "you" do for yourself. Unfortunately this is bad advice in some situations. A woman with a child often has no choice. She may not even get a chance to go to the toilet. She is living life for "us" with the child. All children grow up initially being fully dependent on an adult. Different cultures throw out children as "independent at different stages. In Indian culture children are never considered as being "out and independent". > > Attraction is a complex mini-game in itself, but mostly a byproduct of > > how you’re already playing. If you have excellent state and high skills, > > you’re far more attractive already. A tired, irritable, unskilled player > > is not appealing, and probably shouldn’t be looking for a relationship. > > > > Marriage > > > > Early in the game it can be common to reject and be rejected by other > > players. This is normal, but unfortunately it can drain your state, as > > most players don’t handle rejection or rejecting well. You’ll need to > > expend willpower to keep going, and willpower is replenished by sleep, > > so give it time. > > > > 80% of finding someone comes down to being your most attractive self, > > which – like so much in life – just means putting your time in the right > > places. If you’re exercising, socialising, well nourished and growing in > > your career, you will radiate attraction automatically. The remaining > > 20% is simply putting yourself in places where you can meet the right > > people. Marriage is not left to chance in Indian culture. It is mandatory. Right or wrong, the exhaustive effort that is needed to make a person "attractive" is put in by the family. Arranged marriages, while not having a great reputation actually do work for reasons that might seem incredible to an outside observer. Arranged marriages come bundled with family support, financial, psychological and physical. Each individual in the arranged marriage is assured of some help and support in living their individual lives in exchange for toeing the family line. One ignored aspect of arranged marriages is the fact that they often occur within a restricted cultural group so that irritants that may arise in later life are avoided. It is more than likely that the food that one partner likes, which mommy used to cook at home, is exactly the food that the spouse enjoys and cooks. Likes and dislikes, biases and whines are often shared. > The most important rule of money is never to borrow it, except for > things that earn you more back. For example, education or a mortgage > can > be worthwhile (but are not necessarily so, depending on the education > or > the mortgage). Borrowing to buy new shoes is not. > > Depending on your financial ambitions, here are a few strategies to > bear > in mind: > > Not fussed about money. The low-stress strategy: simply live within > your > means and save a little for a rainy day. Be sure to make the best of > all > the time you save though, or you’ll regret it. > No dispute at all with this advice, but I refer back to the "duties" of a parent where education is looked after by the parents ensuring that the child is not in debt by the time he starts working. The team can score over the individual. A recent news article showed how Indian American children are free from debt by the time they finish their education. That is because the parents of those children are doing for their kids the same thing that was done for them. This is a team game where one's personal needs are set aside in favour of a child. > Later life > > Your options change as the game progresses. Marriage and children will > reduce your time and energy, and introduce more random elements into > the > game (“Emergency diaper change!”). This makes it harder to develop > yourself as quickly. > > Older characters usually have more skills, resources and experience, > unlocking quests that were previously impossible, like “owning a > house”, > or “writing a (good) novel”. > > Children are stated to be a choice by the author - a choice that reduce the individual's time and energy. In civilizational terms this is bad advice. Children should be made part of the team, whom the individual cares for as team members in exchange for receiving some help from children at a later stage in life. I write this simply to illustrate that no person or no culture can claim to have the best advice on living life. if you grow up in one culture it is very difficult to understand or relate to the way things work in another. shiv
