...About The Glass?

“The human race is so puny compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance.”

- Stephen Hawking

I envision myself as a cynical optimist. Bad things have, can, and will happen to me, you, and everyone on the planet. This is simply a fact of our existence as it stands. Some of those things may be avoidable; some will be hopelessly out of any person’s control. I believe that one of the most important traits of one’s character is how one responds to the various “bad things” as they occur.

Given my background in competitive gaming, I subscribe to the theory of The Correct Play. To my knowledge, nobody has given a name to this idea, so googling that term will probably not be very fruitful. The idea is quite simple. For any given situation, out of the millions and billions of possible actions that can be taken, there has to exist one option that is demonstrably better than any other. I’ve always found examples to be particularly useful, so imagine that you are playing Tic Tac Toe, the epitome of a simple game, and you arrive at the following board state:

It is circle’s turn. There are not millions and billions of options here. In this instance, there is a clear correct play (assuming one’s goal is to win the game, that is), and a clear wrong play. Tic Tac Toe, after all, is a simple game. But what happens when you begin to think about other, more complicated games? What about checkers? What about chess? What about Go? What about your life?

In addition to that theory, I also believe in placing as much blame for things as I can upon myself. One of the larger hurdles for competitive Magic players to overcome is to stop blaming the variance inherent to the game as the sole reason for their loss. Even if, in some instances, they are correct in lamenting their poor luck, it leaves them with nothing to grow from. If instead, one scours their play for any possible thing they could have done better, no matter how minute, they can learn and grow even if only a little bit.

It wasn’t fair to be angry that I could not find a ride somewhere. I could have gotten my driver’s licence earlier. I could have saved more money so that I had access to a vehicle. I could have planned my day better. I could have done any number of different things to avoid the pickle that I had found myself in. I realized that that was true for any particular ‘pickle’ that had or could come up. Getting upset at others was beyond useless; it could be harmful.

“Getting angry releases an enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase, which can temporarily reduce the IQ.”

- Hertz

Paul Giamatti’s character in the movie Shoot ‘Em Up dropped that little nugget of knowledge on me. When he said that line, it stuck out to me. At the time, it made me think about how less than rational decisions are often born out of emotional reactions to situations. I have no idea if that enzyme actually has that effect. I haven’t the foggiest of ideas if reducing the IQ actually causes worse decisions to be made. What I do know is that the answer to these questions is not relevant. That single quote triggered a desire to change the way I thought about the world, and I believe it was a change for the better.

The lesson I’ve come to learn can be expressed in any number of cliched, fortune-cookie statements. Regardless of the cheese content of said lesson, I haven’t found it to be anything less than an absolute truth. The universe tends to return to you what you put out into the world. I have found it truly amazing what a slight shift in attitudes and outlooks has done for my life.

I can already hear the skeptics. They’ll tell me that everything isn’t so black and white. I believe that it absolutely is; it just may be really difficult at times to find the whitest of solutions. I haven’t experienced the real hardships life has to offer. I’m a spoiled middle-class white kid, what the hell do I know? The truth is, I don’t know what will work for your specific situation. I do believe that it is critical that everyone realize that they are constantly playing a game. The name of your game is Your Life, and the rules are only known to you specifically. The important takeaway from that assumption is that there exists, somewhere in the ether, a correct ‘play’ at every crossroad.

Consider that you have decided that you would like to spend as much time as possible in your bed. It seems to me that you would benefit from the finest, most comfortable bed you can find. In addition, you’re going to need comfortable sheets and pillows. Congratulations, you have found yourself in a new game! This one is called Acquire the Most Comfortable Bed. You are probably going to require money to obtain these things. Hey, a new game! This one is called Get Some Money.

Listen, this way of thinking will not always be easy. Sometimes it will suck. Sometimes it will even be painful. It is my contention that it is totally and completely worth it. For an extreme example, go check out any movie in the Saw series. Each person who finds his or herself in one of Jigsaw’s traps experiences the most hardcore interpretation of this philosophy. They are in one of life’s wonderful games, only their consequences for failure are quite severe. Amanda’s goal was to escape her trap with her head in one piece; she made the choice that enabled that goal to become a reality and accepted the costs that came with it.

Each day it is up to you alone to make an absurdly large number of decisions with varying degrees of severity and importance, each one spawning an almost infinite number of alternate paths that might have been your reality had you made a different choice. No matter your situation, no matter your goals, this is the reality. There is an absolute correct choice for every situation. Figure it out and make it.

“The greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within.“

- Miguel de Cervantes

There are at least two forces at work inside of all of us. You can call it good and evil. You can call it reason and emotion. You can call it right and wrong. The thing to do is determine what you really want. When those different desires come to the surface, trying to influence you to move in one direction or another, one must try to foresee the consequences of said direction or decision. Does that consequence align with your goals? The point I am trying to make in this article is not that there is a universal better way. People have different goals. People have different desires. My point is that whatever it is that you want to do, there is an optimal way for you to do it. Figure it out and start winning.