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I wanna live an NPC life

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Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#251

Post by i_am_a_peasant »

notyetmachine wrote: post #248
talloaktrees wrote: post #133

Zhuangzi was fishing in the Pu River when the King of Chu sent two high officials to him. They said, “The king wishes to entrust you with the affairs of his realm.” Zhuangzi kept hold of his fishing rod and did not turn around. He said, “I have heard that in Chu there is a sacred turtle that has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it wrapped in cloth, enclosed in a box, and stored in the ancestral temp…

great to see another Zhuangzian, best book ever!

My favorite is chapter 22

Master Tung-kuo asked Chuang Tzu, "This thing called the Way-where does it exist?"

Chuang Tzu said, "There's no place it doesn't exist."

"Come," said Master Tung-kuo, "you must be more specific!"

"It is in the ant."

"As low a thing as that?"

"It is in the panic grass."

"But that's lower still!"

"It is in the tiles and shards."

"How can it be so low?"

"It is in the piss and shit."

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#252

Post by tonyarkles »

SoftTalker wrote: post #218
tonyarkles wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or not tonight. If I didn’t enjoy yard care, I wouldn’t have a yard or I’d xeriscape or gravel + trees, or something. Laundry’s kind of a drag, mostly the folding part. Most of the time I enjoy cooking and tidying up afterwards; when I’m not in the mood I’ll do takeout or throw something from the freezer in. I’m not sure what you’re saying overall? Is it that those things you’ve listed are what stops people from havi…

They are just examples. Adults with responsibilities, especially with familes, have really moved beyond living "without giving a single shit about anything." The only adults I know who live like that are homeless. I guess they are the ultimate real-life NPCs

> Adults with responsibilities, especially with families

I’ll rephrase a little bit because “not give a shit” is maybe too flippant and what you’re saying is important context: if you have a family and responsibilities, framing it in terms of the article, that is one version of the NPC life and you’re going to be way better at it if you actually like it. If you feel like your constant responsibilities to your family are a burden and are getting in the way of doing what you want to be doing, that’s going to show up everywhere.

I was definitely raised with a “happy wife, happy life” mentality and a few years ago I smashed that whole notion to pieces for myself, not because it’s wrong but because the implementation I was taught was wrong. I understood it as “she’s going to want you to do a bunch of stuff that you don’t want to do, and the key to a happy life is to do it anyway.” As it turns out, in my experience, genuinely enthusiastic yesses and clear “no, not interested” is a way better approach. She trusts your yes way more if she trusts your ability to say no. Turns out that knowing she’s with someone who knows what he wants and doesn’t want, and has enough of a spine to say and act accordingly, is a key component to both “happy wife” and “happy life”.

If you’ve got family responsibilities and they feel like a heavy burden, it’s probably worth spending some time really reflecting on that and figuring out what needs to change.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#253

Post by satvikpendem »

mvanbaak wrote: post #237
satvikpendem wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sitting sometimes is good, sitting always is not.

Not the OP, nor the quote from Ronin state that one should always sit

I do not mean literally sitting. The article encourages complacency (metaphorically sitting around all day) which I disagree with.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#254

Post by blooalien »

goosejuice wrote: post #222
mindhash wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often ask myself if i can go to a small town and live an anonymous life. Its my scoring system for personal pride/ego. Does such an anonymous life stop me from inventing things or think about stuff deeply. I don't think so,..

If you want to live anonymously you wouldn't want to be in a small town.

> If you want to live anonymously you wouldn't want to be in a small town.

Having grown up in a small town, I can confirm this. The smaller the town, the more it becomes true that almost everyone in town has either heard of you from a friend or relative, or knows you directly. :)

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#255

Post by karmakurtisaani »

i_am_a_peasant wrote: post #251
notyetmachine wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

great to see another Zhuangzian, best book ever!

My favorite is chapter 22 Master Tung-kuo asked Chuang Tzu, "This thing called the Way-where does it exist?" Chuang Tzu said, "There's no place it doesn't exist." "Come," said Master Tung-kuo, "you must be more specific!" "It is in the ant." "As low a thing as that?" "It is in the panic grass." "But that's lower still!" "It is in the tiles and shards." "How can it be so low?" "It is in the piss and shit."

I feel like the lesson in many stories like this is to be kind of indifferent, not ask stupid questions, and to not answer stupid questions.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#256

Post by toomanyrichies »

SoftTalker wrote: post #205
tonyarkles wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, they might just want to clock out from work at 5pm and go ride their bike until sunset without giving a single shit about anything but the fresh air. Or go home and walk their kid to the park. Or throw a ball around the yard with the dog.

Except you've got to cut the grass, weed the flowerbeds, wash the car, do the laundy, cook dinner, do the dishes, etc.

There’s a difference between things that literally everyone has to do as part of being human, and things that only “strivers” seem to enjoy- climbing the corporate ladder, “obsessing over customers”, polishing Powerpoint decks, working overtime to win that big account, picking that perfect background song to kick off the Zoom all-hands meeting, posting on LinkedIn about what having a kid taught them about B2B SaaS, etc.

No one here is saying they’re going to stop clipping their nails or feeding themselves. If that’s how you interpreted the article, you’re being uncharitable.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#257

Post by bibimsz »

oilkillsbirds wrote: post #27

This is pure escapism. Numbing yourself to the burden of being. Likely from a stress tolerance so shallow and under-developed that the slightest inconvenience or expectation feels like a crisis. The truth is that after the brief initial relief of excusing yourself from being anything at all, you'll end up in a deep depression. It's a naive and immature fantasy. Remove all electronics from your life, they are a consta…

such a reddit reply

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#258

Post by BeetleB »

SoftTalker wrote: post #205
tonyarkles wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, they might just want to clock out from work at 5pm and go ride their bike until sunset without giving a single shit about anything but the fresh air. Or go home and walk their kid to the park. Or throw a ball around the yard with the dog.

Except you've got to cut the grass, weed the flowerbeds, wash the car, do the laundy, cook dinner, do the dishes, etc.

It's telling that you include totally unnecessary things like yard and car stuff.

I mean, sure, I wash the car every so many months because I take a road trip and can't get stuff off my windshield.

Washing cars is one of those absolutely pointless things people do that the article is alluding to. It is not supposed to be clean.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#259

Post by numpad0 »

account42 wrote: post #245
numpad0 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, people using NPC as an insult have it backwards. What they mean is that you receive tasks and ideas from them to carry out for cash. That's what players do. The blacksmith tasks the protagonist to get a Dragon's Teeth or whatever and pay 100 Golds in return(never played TES, sorry if this isn't a good example). The player has no control over the blacksmith; the blacksmith is in full control of the situation. The…

No what people using NPC mean is lack of agency. And NPC in a game doesn't have agency and can only do what others have intended for him to do. The player on the other hand does have agency. You can choose to do what the game wants you to do or you can choose to not do it. You can choose to play a different game.

... this whole NPC thing is starting to feel to me like it might have been a simple "no U" rebuttal. NPCs pay player for completed tasks. This model resemble typical employer-employee relationships. The agency argument makes sense if someone mentally accepted this fact, and then tried to spin that around in spite.

Re: I wanna live an NPC life

#260

Post by Sorrop »

anal_reactor wrote: post #223
oilkillsbirds wrote: post #27

This is pure escapism. Numbing yourself to the burden of being. Likely from a stress tolerance so shallow and under-developed that the slightest inconvenience or expectation feels like a crisis. The truth is that after the brief initial relief of excusing yourself from being anything at all, you'll end up in a deep depression. It's a naive and immature fantasy. Remove all electronics from your life, they are a consta…

We are wired to be > needed If I died today, I wouldn't even get a slack memo "we miss anal_reactor". Modern economy proved that humans are totally fungible. > wanted I have a dream that someone would take me on a date. But I understand it's just a silly fantasy. > useful I spent last two years at work doing projects that went nowhere because my manager is deaf to feedback. > accountable What is that even supposed to…

I'd have a beer with you
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