Life is like the Sims...

First off, Google came out with a new instant messaging program. I'm not sure if you all remember the post about the emerging Google empire, but this is another example of how Google is taking over the world. That isn't to say that I didn't download the Beta client the first day it came out. But it's just something to mull over.

After living in the real world for a little over a month, I have an observation: that life is much more similar to the Sims video game than I previously thought. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Sims, the object of the game is to basically keep your avatar, or Sim, happy. First you build a modest house and you look for a job. Then you take your earnings and upgrade all the things in your house, buy new books to learn new skills or just get a most comfortable bed so your Sim sleeps better and stays healthy. You also make sure that the Sim goes to work at the right time in the morning, uses the restroom, eats at the appropriate times. You make sure your Sim has friends by inviting them over for dinner, or to watch tv, or playing sports with them. You can even start dating another Sim and ask them to live with you, get married, and have babies. It sounds very lame when I describe it, and granted the concept of the game is pretty lame, but it's also addicting. You get caught up in the virtual rat race of trying to make more money to buy better things and keep your Sim happy.

I played this game a lot last summer, until I realized that it was sort of sad to think that I was playing a computer game where I needed to make my Sim use the bathroom in order to not lose the game. I was basically living life in a computer game instead of really living life. It would have been funny if my Sim could purchase the Sims video game and play Sims herself. The expansion packs were even more disturbing. One of them let you put your picture on a Sim head. I wasn't willing to cross that line.

Anyway, now that I have a real job, I'm beginning to think that life is about as 1-dimensional as the Sims game. I work so I have money, then I think of all the good things I can buy with that money. For the really big purchases that I believe will improve my quality of life, I'll save for a few months. And when I reason in my head why I should buy something so costly, I think about how it might introduce me to new people or improve other skills, the point of which would simply be to further my success in other areas. Which makes me wonder where all the paths end. What is the end goal of all this success?

This is essentially why I stopped playing the Sims. Besides the concept of the game concerning me on a fundamental level, there was also no way to win. Buying nicer things just paves the way to buy even nicer things, which paves the way for buying even nicer things than that, etc. It seems so fruitless. So I just stopped playing the game because it became boring, pointless, and unsatisfying.

Even though I can now draw enumerable parallels between the 1-dimensional Sims and real life, I also am surprisingly not too disturbed by it. On a conceptual level, it is worrisome that I'm not sure what my end goal is, but in real life, I am pretty happy. I like my job, I like the quality of my life. There is room for improvement of course, but I am pretty content doing the day to day things. Sometimes when I think conceptually about how I have to waste an hour every week going to the grocery store and every week I am basically doing the same thing there, I wonder how I can stand it. But I can stand it; I don't mind going to the grocery store at all. It is nice just getting out of the apartment, and interacting with people, even on a simple level. And the same could be said for other routines like getting the car fixed or going to the dentist or getting a hair cut. So maybe the Sims does have it right. Even though it seems dumb and simple, it also seems to work. I am happy just doing the day to day things as long as its also peppered with some unique events like going to a concert or a wedding, every now and again. And I guess that is how it works for everyone else too.

This post was sort of stream of consciousness. So I apologize if it doesn't make any sense.