TMI
I’ve been puzzling over how to manage all the information, issues, ideas, sources, news, and responsibilities at all levels that any human today would have to manage to try to be a good human in the Anthropocene. It’s a lot.
As I’ve been trying to write about it, on a rather ad hoc basis, it’s been daunting. To go the next mile and try to take on some real responsibility, to act and try to put into actual practice some historical and present-day wisdoms, to anticipate possible futures, to encourage right-minded attention, learning, activity? It’s a lot.
How is it even possible to find a workable approach amidst all the complexity?
I found this article recently while browsing Substack. Ostensibly it’s about how not to fall prey to manipulation by online propaganda, but it strikes me there is a much wider application to Too Much Information in general.
So, an “NPC” is a Non-Player Character in role playing games, i.e. a character who is played by the GM or gamemaster. An NPC can be neutral, friend, or foe to the party of player characters, but the players have zero control over him or her. The point of the article is that we’re all NPCs on some level, controlled by the gamemaster. The author
works through five main types of NPCs and summarizes by saying we’re all one or another of the five types depending on the given issue or subject area domain at hand.Luckily, we’re not left totally stranded in NPC land. We can overcome “being played” in some areas, and at the end of the article a sensible solution is offered. We can sort out the things we really care about and put in the requisite effort to be player characters rather than NPCs.
On a secondary level, it’s okay to be NPCs rather than players, provided we pay attention to what type of NPC and choose wisely. On a tertiary level, we can leave low-priority issues alone and leave the game altogether.
I highly recommend a read — and a share with family and friends — especially in this election year season of being over-online and over-extended into over-heated politics and current events, not to mention for the sake of longer run Anthropocene matters.
The link again: Why You Are Probably An NPC - by Gurwinder - The Prism.
