not a little life, but a little bit more

I came across an interesting thought experiment today. It was in a video titled Approach Life like a VIDEO GAME uploaded by a YouTuber called JulienHimself. The video essentially discusses an experiment and discovery-first approach to life. The basic setup is that think of a situation where you are given only a limited time to play a life simulation game (closest in the market is GTA). What would you do with it? Not a second more, not a second less. Just the specified amount of time.

The genuine response by any person would be that he/she would roam around as much as they can, do whatever they want to, and essentially absorb the game so much that they wouldn’t need to bother about it being taken away later. They would try to maximize on the places they visit, experiences they undergo, or maybe a vanity metric like drive the most number of cars. Maybe.

Now, just extrapolate this thought experiment to our real lives. The world we live in is a playground for us, and we are the main characters in our game. And we know for a fact that soon, this game is going to be taken away from us. What should we do? Suddenly, the argument has gotten some ground, isn’t it?

We should not spend time living other’s lives, as Steve Jobs says. Instead we should focus on ours, and try to get the most out of it. Hence I believe that everyone should go ahead and follow their passion, go ahead and ask that person out, go ahead and treat themselves, go ahead and live!

Don’t get stuck in your past, only to realize that you are sacrificing your present when you look back in the future.

One more thing to point out is that, although we should treat our lives like video games, we should realize that there are certain restrictions to the kinds of stuff that is permitted in a simulatory environment as opposed to reality. For example, we should not hurt anyone else. There are some rules that you must always follow, else there would be no meaning to life when you retrospect on your deathbed.

So, what did we learn? We are given an opportunity to enjoy these amazing times. We should keep that in mind, and take our shots. Let’s not live a little life, but a little bit more!