There is a thin line between love and hate.

My approach here on Active Time Event, at least when my head is in the right place and everything is coming together in an appropriate way, attempts to replicate the reasonable machinations one would find within the realm of philosophy, as my mind is inclined in such a fashion, but also due to the notion that when done right, most arguments will be largely sound and predicated upon rationality of some kind. Doesn’t mean my process is perfect, and some of my points can venture into more abstract territory, but I almost always show “my conceptual math”, as it were, leaving me accountable for any further counterpoints to the topics which I discuss. Yesterday, the axiom I built off of, which was breaking down some basic truths involving the MGS3: Delta remake, was largely as follows: People, on average, aren’t patient, stealth games require patience to excel in, ergo, average people do not excel at stealth games. Not a very mind shattering revelation to posit, but as mentioned here just a minute ago, I am often caught meandering into more abstract territory for revelation, and usually in relation to subjective but sound premise, those of which we can ascertain bare the sweet fruit of truth.

Based on these ventures regularly rational predication, I’m perfectly resolute in the comforted notion they remain mostly accurate, albeit subjective, in not being objective fact that can be proven, or ratified as something that is applicable 100% of the time. Perhaps if we were discussing relevant data in a field of hard science, I would understand wanting more concrete numbers and more rigid theorizing, but in a realm of soft science such as philosophy, leaps of faith and near approximates are sometimes as best as one can do, when dealing with such a largely subjective playing field with an innumerable amount of quantifiables in play. This for me, is usually enough, in discussing the nature of player behavior, and the design methodology that goes into any video game, and how those two contexts run up against each other.

I think, while I’ve already explicated upon my point in a manner proper enough for most to concede there remains a sound fairness in my approach, I am tempted to take this a step further, in citing an absurdist parallel, as to why I think so many are at odds with what would otherwise be simple systems to contend with, and why humanity at large causes me intense ire at any given moment, and I think this takes the form of the “Turn Signal Paradox”, and all that it entails.

I put forth the “Turn Signal Paradox” (TSP), in underlining my point about just how needlessly incompetent people are, (if anyone thinks that is too cruel a starting point, the only olive branch of reconciliation I will offer is the descriptor carelessly lazy) in showcasing why I think so much in the realm of gaming, even the most simplistic or straight forward of affairs, seem to be overlooked or disregarded in such an effortlessly dismissive manner. The TSP being related to the notion that so many adults have licenses, drive cars everyday, are mostly capable individuals, and do indeed, have access to turn signals, one of the easiest devices on the planet to operate, and yet a staggering number of people do not use them, which not only generates confusion and anger in others, but can cause astronomical amounts of damage, whether that comes in the form of emotional, financial, or even mortal kinds of collateral, upsetting people, ruining cars, damaging (and maybe even ending) lives, in the worst case scenarios imagined on a regular basis, and all because a driver either doesn’t know? (this possibility seems to absurd a notion to entertain) or simply (and far more likely) doesn’t care about flipping a little level right next to their hand. Horrifyingly astounding, I must insist.

So yes, when I assert such absurdist (but very real) realities, such as people lacking the patience required to wait a couple of seconds for a guard to walk by in a video game, or a strangely common number of individuals fail to use their turn signal, in spite of how easy it is and how costly not doing so can be, or going back to the other day, when I similarly asserted a variety of people likely did not utilize or fully understand any number of systems in MGS3, whether it be the cure, camouflage, or food system, these assertions come from places of experience, a myriad of observations, and common sense related to laws of averages, and not merely an idle ass pull of irrational wish fulfillment on my behalf.

I do not know why I felt the need to address these happenings so directly, though I suppose it is in the name of driving home the notion that my theories about gaming, and the people who play them, aren’t so much aimless consternation or asinine complaint, and that they run more along the lines of cogent reasoning and rational standards, in exercising my own axioms of philosophy, as I strive to refine my process, and avoid the tragic pitfall of “getting too comfortable” with the basics, an all too common occurrence for many experts who operate too long in their field, and let their egos outweigh their own honest habituations in observing and upholding fundamentals. All of that starts with conversing with myself out loud, in attempting to truly understand how both games and people work through their interactions. Much like the gaming industry, I mostly have an intense distaste for humanity at large, not so much because of what they are, but more so in address to what they aren’t. I know that sounds pedantically paradoxical, but once again, referencing the TSP, in how many drivers do not use such a simple device, and fail themselves and others in such a blink of the eye moment of simplistic gesture…in that moment, they are not being responsible drivers, which takes almost no thought or effort to do, which on some level, makes them thoughtless slobs, not worthy of the license in their name, which all could have been avoided if they were just better drivers...and them not being better drivers, that is the part I do not like about them.

As a brief after touch on the thought, I will also posit the simple notion that since I am one who also drives, and knows how easy it is to do such a thing, I become intensely disappointed in people who fail to do the same, because I know just how easy it is to do, hence, and conjoining this notion back to my distaste for humanity, and on some level, the gaming industry at large, the TSP kind of acts as a catch all of parallel for so much of what so many fail to do on a regular basis, which very often, is one of the easiest things people can do, and that is be better. If viewed through a slightly different lens of reasoning, we could rephrase the very same appeal as being an individual who is simply caring enough to hit a bare minimum standard.

Again; am I painting with broad strokes? Sure, these are subjective viewpoints after all, but I ask you after that acknowledgement, do they sound entirely wrong or totally off base? The question is mostly a rhetorical one, as I do not feel comfortable putting forth a notion I do not feel comfortable is at least, mostly true, in possessing some semblance of reality in reinforcing its premise. I am of the mind we can always do better, and something as radically simple as self-improvement is sometimes as easy as caring enough to use a god damn turn signal. This is why I feel safe in my assertions as such, in spite of their outlandishly chaotic premise, and prompts the basic existential question: how would humanity fundamentally change over night, if everyone involved just cared enough to avoid the Turn Signal Paradox? The mind reels at the thought.

Reality is stranger than fiction, it would seem.

–Pashford