(The tl;dr video companion for this article)

I will always be an advocate of perspective taking, as it allows one to see the bigger picture of any situation with far greater clarity.


Big brain stuff, truly

Sometimes, here on Active Time Event, in spite of our best efforts, and in keeping within the tradition of being deeply flawed, as one would suspect of the overwhelming majority of the human standard, we royally fuck it up sometimes, or at least quite nearly so, in our attempts at imparting knowledge and entertainment about all things gaming and philosophy. To wit, since I always try to keep to posting everyday, with that immovable midnight deadline mocking me from a far, and making sure I steady myself at any given moment, in knowing I will have to bust out some random words of wisdom on the spot, hot and ready, or risk breaking a massive streak of writing consecutive days back to back, with aforementioned midnight deadline barreling forward full steam ahead with only a couple of hours to spare, shit is about to get real.

That’s why at this point, with so little time left afforded to me in what remains in my day, I’m now forcing myself to dictate my own stream of consciousness real time, so that in the absence of any truly great ideas, we at least have the existence of some quality of an idea, period, with which we may at least point to in showcasing proof of concept. A some-Thing is certainly better than a bunch of no-Thing, yes? The mind reels at the possibilities of nothingness somehow outpacing somethingness in any conceivable competition. Life is queer in that way though, just when you think you have it all figured out, a nothingness cock-blocks your enlightened moment of zen.

I was going to say something to the effect of “you’d think wisdom would be a much easier element to just stumble unto”, but I suppose if that were the case, wisdom itself would carry far less significance, and most people wouldn’t be so enamored with discovering more of it, and dedicate their lives in attaining it. Maybe there is something wise in being able to sit with one’s self, one’s own thoughts, undisturbed and not at all perturbed by the sheer notion of such a reality. This kind of thing is why a lot of people do like to numb out: they can’t stand the metaphysical sight of themselves; nothing but bleak horror within. Dealing with the self is definitely a “pile of laundry” classification of problem, as the longer one successfully avoids putting off dealing with it, the worse it ends up perceptually becoming, with only delusional dread defining any meaningful difference thereafter.

One of the earliest revisions of this current article involved the phrase “dialectics”, which seemed kind of like the seed idea of what this Words of Wisdom was going to be about. Thankfully, the pure notion of what essentially boils down to conversing via counter factuals is such a wide reaching kind of idea, I could spend the rest of the year writing about it and still not have said everything worth saying about the subject. I remember appropriating a similar strategy I had when dealing with video game bosses, especially of the Soulslike variety, where after enough successive losses in a row, I would obviously start to reassess my performance to myself, out loud or through internal monologue, just to start a conversation about what the hell was going on. I found this always helped rationalize the event into a more simplified, reductionist distillation of what was occurring at that particular moment in time. There remained an essence of a dialectical process that gleamed with blinding propheticism, awash with a strange propensity of peculiarity; strange I had never more consciously explicated this notion for myself in such an intentional way before….more queerness abound.

It’s things like that which lead me to believe there is very little, in a real sense, preventing someone from self-improvement, even if in a silly, minute way like beating a boss in a video game, as if you take the building blocks of that event, the ability to communicate, having patience with problem solving, approaching an issue analytically speaking, shifting perspectives to attempt to solve the problem; these kinds of cognitive behavioral tactics have real world applicabilities, and the more one practices them, the more one is likely to default in their usage over time, so there remains an exceptional benefit in relying on such practices on a regular basis, even in peculiar or downright abstract ways, in utilizing them in as many a manner as possible, to quantify their limitations and continue refinements all in the same breath.

I can’t help but feel some existential dread in reference to Words of Wisdom as a feature, as I have been doing it since October 2024, and even though there have been small breaks in my writing habituations over time, in having brief pockets where no Words of Wisdom need be, I have delivered an awful lot in the past nearly two years, and I’ve always suspected there might come a time I would likely have to retire the segment, for so many obvious reasons. The current situation leads me to believe such a reality may be on the horizon, as I may be reaching a technical limit on how far this particular concept may be pushed, before losing all meaning beyond a consumable need, which is the lowest form of metaphysical nutrient I can fathom. Not to say I’m giving up the ghost on wisdom entirely; philosophy is a life long endeavor, as is learning, and in reference to a Words of Wisdom from the past, Memes to an End, it is my intellectual charge to leave something of value for others to benefit from, in the inevitable eventuality that is my demise.

To that point, I feel as if I’m on the verge of something promising, though I’m not sure how close to budding fruition such an imagined reality truly is, which may yet keep me waiting in anxious suspense for a long time coming. This contemplative quiet continues to be a safe haven of sorts, where no other sanctuary remains to take refuge in, so perhaps I may take solace in the notion I am not without a peace of mind, even if bereft of most else.

I suppose, in one sense, that is good enough.

~Pashford