Strategies

← Hajimarimasu

Obama?! →

October 8, 2009

Strategies

Bull in a china shop - From the Economist

Many years ago, I remember a classmate ran for student government based on a speech centered on a line from the movie, City Slickers. The movie was about a trio of city dwellers going through a mid life crisis that go to ride in a cattle drive to do some soul searching. Jack Palance tells the group about a secret to life...

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
Curly: This. *holds up one finger*
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
Mitch: But, what is the one thing?
Curly: That's what you have to find out. *smiles*

It's a highly relativistic argument... and when I was sixteen, I thought it was quite trite, and didn't entirely know why the movie had gotten some acclaim for its profundity. What's so interesting about a group of middle aged men trying to find themselves again?

Now, in my thirties, I think back to the line, and I realise much more acutely why it appeals to those of us that have been working in the "rat race". At work, one is easily buffeted by the chaotic expectations of those around you... work harder, faster, earn more, be more sociable, have more friends... etc. How does one keep perspective when everyone shows a different set of priorities -- a different strategy for self fulfillment. If one were to half-heartedly pursue these strategies, alternating from time to time, one could easily get lost by being defined by someone else's ethos. The only way to resist this affect on your framework is by having a principle driven framework in place... so...

What are the victory conditions in life?

There are so many definitions. Some want the most money or toys. Some want a legacy, others want family and friends. Some want notoriety. Others might want amazing memories. Still others just want out. There are so many definitions for how to "win"... so many divergent strategies.

Within the same working group, each individual might have different strategies, and they may actually not conflict at all. For instance if one person wants to be the most productive, his strategy might succeed, simultaneously allowing his colleague to succeed in his strategy of doing the least work in the group. They both feel like they've "won" that encounter.

The problem, of course, is when you want to be seen as a winner by all. The reality, is that you can't fulfill victory conditions for everyone -- nor should you want to. If you've chosen a path that emphasizes human compassion over notoriety or money, it doesn't make much sense to envy those that have. Those that have chosen a path to wealth may strangely consider their path best and most successful, even though others might look at their lives as empty.

The definitions of success differ -- and we ought to accept that those differences exist.

Yet what if there are, aside from these relative definitions of success of life, an absolute? What if your strategy is based on the wrong assumptions about the mechanics of life? We only get to live life once (I would assert), and reset buttons don't really exist... so it's quite conceivable that we would live based on wrong premises.

One can try to define the "conditions of victory" by oneself -- and in some sense, this is necessary for a well considered, introspective life -- it is, in a word, existentialism. However, if a framework of meaning exists beyond human-centered definitions, this should form a more sound foundation for defining the meaning of one's life.

Relativistic Existentialism helps keep a mind clear, above the froth of constantly shifting priorities that any mass of humanity will generate. However, self-definition of those strategy runs afoul with the possibility that one's assumptions are wrong.

As far as I go, I try to base my "victory conditions" on the bible. It's not always easy, but I think it's a far firmer foundation from which to view our world.