Is life a game?

We had a lively discussion at Mano SFU philosophy cafe last night.

Some thoughts.

What is a game?  Some would define it as an arrangement where artificial obstructions (rules) are created in order to test the skills of the player and provide the satisfaction of achievement through overcoming these artificial obstacles.

It seems we humans love the rush from achieving ever more challenging goals and games provide this.

Therefore, a golfer can easily walk up to the hole and drop the golf ball in there with his hand but have agreed to do it the difficult way by trying to hit the ball with a club at a long distance and measure his achievement by the minimum number of strokes to do it.

The tennis player agree to have a net in between them so not all balls will go over and have scoring rule to measure one's skill over another player.

Mountain climbers scale peaks; because it is there, they say.  I would say they are doing it for the challenge and for the rush of achieving and overcoming that challenge. Notice that they are always looking for the next more difficult mountain to reach.

Then there are games of chance, where one tests one's patience and persevering through unlucky streaks or hoping for lucky breaks.  Chance is another form of obstacle that is out of the players control in each play.  The challenge of hitting the big one, getting even with earlier losses, guessing that lucky combination, all seem to fit the definition.

Our love for challenge and achievement is such that boredom soon sets in when everything is the way we wanted it.  What would one do in utopia if all our needs and pleasures are available at the touch of a variety of buttons? How happy would we be in heaven and what would we do.......forever?

One theory is that we will invent games to set up artificial hurdles for us to overcome.

At the cafe, there were discussions about whether evolution is a game, whether morals and social norms are game rules, and how chance affect our lives. Perhaps the game aspect only applies to social rules made by humans.  

For me, it is about perspective.

For those who think there is a predetermined purpose for their life, they are obligated to take a certain path and overcome certain obstacles,  it is difficult to convince them they are playing a game.  It may fit the definition of a game but it seems to trivialize their sense of meaning.

However, can we trivialize explorers, mountain climbers, Olympic athletes?  Are they not in games? The fame and glory that motivate great entertainers and others, are these not just motivators for the game?  Some games can be very serious.

Then there are those who thinks life does not come with a predetermined purpose but that it is up to each of us to find meaning and purpose in life.  Once we take the position of choosing, it becomes a lot more like deciding which game to play, what rules to follow, or work to change the rules of the game.

Some at the cafe protest that lots of unfortunate people were born into dire circumstances in this world and do not have the luxury of choosing.

Card players constantly have to face being dealt poor cards.  Most of them endure the play, hoping for fortunes to change rather than leave the game as is the expected norm of the game.  Those who are born into dire circumstances are in similar but much tougher situation,  their option of ending the game in life by leaving is even more unpalatable.

What of the people who were born with nothing?  Did they not get any cards at all?  No,  the ones who did not get any cards were not born and did not get to join the game.

So, can we turn life into a game?  Does it make life any better?

Our normal notion of a game is that its main purpose is to entertain. For billionaire to continue to try to make money would be considered a game even for the rest of us it is about subsistence, making a living, or getting luxuries that we do not have.

Next time we face a difficulty, can we see it as the tennis net or the challenging golf course? Meant to entertain us and make our life interesting?  Looking forward to the satisfying rush of achievement when this difficulty is conquered?

If we failed this time,  is it the learning opportunity we need to improve ourselves to get ready for the next game challenge so that we can get the rush of achievement then?  After all, who ever win at tennis the first time they play or when faced with a more skillful opponent?  But we keep improving and keep getting more satisfaction with the improvement as a result of the defeats in between.

Life happens, we impart meaning into events, up to us?