Suppose that our world is actually a simulation, a video game being run by somebody 5000 years from now on a PlayStation Bazillion. As a virtual character who wants to survive, how should you behave? While fans of The Matrix have had years to consider their options (Assimilate now? Wait until it seems prudent?), our deluded blue pill brethren must have been sloshing in their pods when the question was thrust upon them last week in The New York Times ("Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy's Couch").
A number of philosophers are quoted in the article, but the most practical advice comes from an economist (which is kind of a matrix glitch if you ask me) and author of the handy guide, "How To Live In A Simulation". His advice: "You should try to be as interesting as possible, on the theory that the designer is more likely to keep you around for the next simulation."
Wise words for any Sim, but particularly appropriate for those of us generated as marketing characters. The things we work on are just simulations that we're trying to get lots of people to run in their minds. If they find those simulations interesting, then maybe they'll keep running them into their next store visit, conversation or lifestage.
Comments