The Rubinshteinic Approach to Gamification

The Rubinshteinic Approach to Gamification

Life is just like a game, First you have to learn rules of the game, And then play it better then any one else. -- Albert Einstein

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. -- William Shakespeare

(Philosocom's Directory of Choice and Decision)

(Background music)

Gamification can be defined as the process in which we use gameplay terminology and apply it to areas outside gaming. In this article, we shall be exploring how gamification can be applied to life itself.

Life is a stage, and we all have a role to play. Each and every one of us has an internal mechanism that drives us to do the actions we do, and like the things we like, and despise the things that make us utterly bored and uninterested.

Each and every one of us has his or her own sense of logic. Logic comes from the word "logos", or "meaning", and indeed, what is life, but what we make of it?

What is philosophy, if not a way of life? Philosophy can be seen like that. Each and every actor in the grand scheme of this world has his or her own values, their own goals, their own tendencies, creating the fabric of the game we call life.

Life is a game we are taught that we should be taking seriously. Very seriously. However, like actual games, life is a series of choices you make, and each choice has its own consequence.

Like in games, we are expected to be smart. We are expected to make smart decisions for our future. Our future is the continuation of our existence in the game of life.

What is the game of life? If life is what you make of it, then the game of life, by proxy, is also what you make of it.

What kind of game are you playing, in life? What are your terms for victory?

I seek to rectify the world through Philosocom and enjoy love. That's my victory conditions for the game I am playing.

When you see life as a game to be played seriously, you then begin to acknowledge just how meaningful life can be.

And meaning? Meaning is logic. Logic means meaning. Do we have to make out of life something specific? No. We are free to make life whatever we want out of it. It's our life, so it's our choice of what meaning to make out of our lives.

Logic is to not be treated objectively. Logic is deeply personal just like the game of life. While one plays a strategy game, many other play a game of survival mode.

Most people, in my eyes, play a game of survival mode, and that is understandable. We need to pay our bills. We need to provide for ourselves and/or our dear ones.

But deep inside, life is like that because we chose to make it like that, in our minds. The greatest freedom lies in our minds, not in the outside world. It is therefore our conscious decision to make sense of life.

And sense? Sense is always personal. Sense is always subjective, therefore. When it comes to living creatures, logic always comes from the individual, therefore what may appear utterly absurd to one may appear perfectly sensible to another. Cold analytic logic often fails when it comes to the human element.

It might take much time and effort to know one's own logic. But even then, one's own logic has the reason, why it is the way it is.

Life affects us and it is our role to make sense of life. Life may bring us fortune or misfortune, and one's fortune is another's misfortune.

We cannot expect each other until we understand that logic is subjective and that different people play life differently.

However, in almost all cases, life is always, always played seriously.

Sometimes, life is played so seriously, we often forget how our habits are not the habits of others. There is no such thing as "normal" when different people have different norms. It's just that societies come and may treat norms like they are objective and constitute what is supposed to be a life well lived.

However, for life to be well lived, we must examine it first. We must examine life as if we examine a game. After all, life can be seen as a game. And it must always, always must be done seriously.

Why? Because whether or not reincarnations exist, we only have this specific lifetime to lead. So, we better play our cards right, take responsibility for our actions, and hope that we shall seek the victories we want to see in this world.

Commentary by Ms. Alex Mos

The idea of life gamification implies that life is predetermined by a kind of "life game design." We must obey the rules of the physical world, making constant choices for survival, power, or to have a muffin for breakfast. Choose wisely because every choice results in a different outcome for us and unimaginably influences the world far beyond us. 

A butterfly effect principle implies that even the smallest actions have disproportionally significant effects elsewhere. Thus, our existence is governed mainly by chaos rather than the ordered predetermination of a neatly pre-programmed game. 

Every choice and even a single thought might cause a random cascade of consequences. Play your cards wisely to tilt the odds. Yet chaos, which is born of deep interconnection, makes life unpredictable. Maybe life isn’t about control and winning but awareness and examination.