Greetings.
It’s Wednesday. I'm feeling somewhat pissed off about a number of issues floating around in the air today, any of which I could write about. But I don't have the energy for anger or bitterness or righteous indignation just now. All these require a certain kind of energy that most people, thank God, only hold in limited store. And right now I'm out.
So here's my offering. I've recently completed a short book that might be categorized as self-help. It's called The Game, An Agnostic Guide To Living…For Everyone. I am now engaged in the typically futile pursuit of a literary agent or publisher. If you know anyone who you think might be interested, by all means pass it along.
Here’s the first slice of it. Tell me what you think.
Matt
INTRODUCTION
Warning
This book is intended for everyone, and I truly believe it can help everyone. BUT… maybe don't read this book if you're really, really happy -- especially if you're not sure why. Technically speaking, nothing I write should challenge your happiness or sense of meaning. However, the thoughts contained herein might cause you to start thinking about your happiness and life purpose in a different way which, on balance, might not be helpful. I don't want to upset anything that's already working.
As to the rest of you, this book poses no threat. Potentially, it could help you a lot.
What Are We Doing Here?
"Ever just wonder wtf the universe wants you to do?"
My friend asked me this question the other day. In the manner of such questions, it was both rhetorical and sincere. The truth is that none of us actually knows what we're doing here or what we should do with the time we have, or even if the time we think we have is the full extent of time that we have. We know a lot of things, but the purpose of life is not one of them; we only have guesses and suspicions in that regard.
No One Knows if God Exists
It will surprise my friends, but this is an agnostic book. I know most people would consider me a religious person because to an extent greater than most, I walk the walk of my Jewish faith. However, in truth, I would call myself a hopeful agnostic, which is to say that I would be glad to know God exists, I conduct myself largely as though God exists, but I don't know -- and I know no one can ever know -- if God exists. It's unknowable. Anyone who either denies God's existence or professes it as a fact does so through trick of mind. Both God's existence and God's non-existence are unprovable, and to insist on either is a form of arrogance and/or self-deception. They call it faith for a reason. To claim that 5 × 4 = 20 doesn't require faith because it is a fact and factually known. It is knowledge. Knowledge doesn't require faith. Doubt, on the other hand, and uncertainty -- these require faith. Which is all just to say that every religion implicitly depends upon the unprovability of God.
Existential Angst, aka Anxiety
If we don't know why we're here or what we're supposed to be doing, then any movement or religion or ideology that claims to have the answer is almost certainly wrong. One could only be right with a lucky guess later confirmed by previously nonexistent proof.
So what do we do? What should we value? How do we live in a world that leaves us so fundamentally adrift? I propose that we live life as if it were a game, and that those of us who are happiest with our lives -- whether we think of ourselves as theists, atheists, or agnostics -- are already, though unwittingly, doing so.
Why a "Game"?
Not only is this book agnostic, it is also, for lack of a better term, self-centered. The game I propose as a model for life is a game we should enjoy. I could have chosen "system" or "method" or "modus operandi'' instead of "game." But a game is more fun. Game is the word we use to describe seemingly meaningless activities to which we often ascribe meaning and pursue for the sake of enjoyment. While we can't objectively conclude that there's a meaning to our existence here, that doesn't mean we should all resign ourselves to just sadly trudging along. Let's instead drop life into the category we use for other meaningless activities organized for our enjoyment; namely, games.
Appropriately, I think the actual game that comes closest in spirit to the game I propose is, wait for it, The Game of Life. Remember The Game of Life? I'm sure my memory is not exact, but what stands out for me is that The Game of Life was not a zero-sum game like so many others. The winner in Risk controls the whole world; everyone else has been eliminated. The winner in Monopoly owns all the properties; everyone else has been wiped out. Even in Chutes and Ladders, there is clearly one winner -- the player who finishes first -- and everyone else loses, not partially but completely. In The Game of Life, the first goal is to choose a life path (a game, you might say). Some paths require academic and professional degrees and cost more up front, incurring greater near-term risk. Some allow the player to start making a decent living immediately. Either way, the players proceed along their chosen paths to the finish trying not to go broke. While the game declares the richest finisher the winner, it is also designed for multiple players to finish. If you don't have the most money, that was largely your choice. You chose your path (game) and completed it. You may not have "won" according to the rules they gave you, but you are also clearly not a "loser." You didn't win, but you didn't fail. Put another way, you didn't win by their rules, but you may well have won by your rules.
Living Life as a Game
I propose that we live life as a game of our own choosing, perhaps our own devise, and by rules we have each either written ourselves or consciously opted into.
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