Jayrt Designer: Recent Episodes
Jayrt
I have the experience of having been involved in a wide variety of jobs over the years. From very demanding physical labor and factory work to cushy office jobs and consulting. They all take their toll whether it be from physical hazards such as inhaling fumes to the more common boredom that many people feel in the current work environment. I am glad to be done with some of the rougher work but there is definitely something to be said about the other end of the spectrum. Specifically, brain work.
When you work physically with your body to accomplish something such as a factory job, it often feels mostly boring and a waste of life. I have some more thoughts on this, but will save that for a special thought session in the future. Anyways, take that work out of the shop and into a job that is physically demanding but also requires careful-thought and your time transforms into a work of love. For example, Amish woodworkers who hand build things such as furniture are often proud of their finished product. Taking the monotony out of it really seems to transform the work and thoughts surrounding the daily tasks of producing that work.
Taking it a step even further, doing brain work such as working on building websites and various types of engineering have the same type of final appeal at the end of the finished product, but get a large part of their pleasure from directly removing the monotony of having to do all the required processes by hand.
The big difference between the physical but brainy job and pure brain work is a mater of scale. The pure brain work can scale up exponentially which explains why engineers often find themselves highly agreeing with slogans like the I'm an engineer to save time let's just assume that I'm never wrong shirt and the solving problems engineering t-shirt talking about fixing problems you didn’t know you had in ways you cannot understand. It gives these individuals a taste of feeling like a God with how much work they can do with their skills. They can control countless operations and do the work that would require potentially tens of thousands of workers - the kind that would be bored out of their mind doing the various tasks.
I’ve owned several cars and trucks in my lifetime. I’ve been on commercial airplanes, ferry boats, and thankfully zero rockets at this point. Maybe if Elon provides enough knock-out juice to calm me down, perhaps I would be willing to give his vessels a shot too.
I’ve noticed that despite how much they are falling apart, these things that move us around for work, pleasure, or just to get a few items from the grocery store are all very sentimental things after utilizing their abilities to move us around. I can think of numerous people who had names for their cars in highschool. The “beast” was a very popular name even for cars that had their ceiling fabric coming off and held in place with our fingers as it bumped into our heads on the way to wherever we were going.
This is where my thoughts begin. It doesn’t really seem to matter how nice they are. Sometimes the reason for fondness is because of how they are falling apart but still able to do the job. I doubt this specific aspect of my thoughts applies to those who are a cycologist or are just plane crazy but it doesn’t take away from my thought of just how special these things are to us. As long as they are able to function properly and not be dangerous, we don’t care how worm out they look. Motorcyclists are no exception and even claim I don't snore I dream I'm a motorcycle as if they are even dreaming of these contraptions.
So while thinking through this a bit, I think that there is a fondness to these contraptions just like there is to anything else - a person, a special book we’ve read, Skyrim as I mentioned in my prior post, and anything else that we spend time with. It is not just video games that consume our time, but also getting from somewhere to another.
This continues to solidify my opinion of that the adventure is what it is all about. Getting to the next spot of that adventure with a squealing fan belt is just color to the story. Also, anyone who snores should probably get that checked out.
Until next time…
I will admit to having spent many countless hours being immersed in the varying plots and storylines of videogames (storylines being emphasized with a grin and my hands doing air quotes). It probably started with 13 Ghosts on a TRS80 computer in my basement as a toddler back in the 80’s. Further progressing to the Atari 2600, gameboy, n64, and so on. Eventually, getting lost in the world of Skyrim and other large open worlds.
In my early adult life, I would no doubt have been happy to receive a level 18 complete video game birthday t shirt which celebrates yet another trip around the galaxy with the idea that much of that time was spent perhaps in Mario’s Galaxy. Thinking back to later years and what I had going on at the time, it would also have made sense for me and many people I know to have been given the level 21 complete shirt and even the level 30 complete shirt.
But hold on. I love gaming when the games are good, but since hitting that 30 year mark, I’m not so sure I feel the same way anymore. I will absolutely play the living hell out of Skyrim 6 when it eventually comes out, would play any new Monkey Island games that get released, and would welcome some VR games if they weren’t just a show of graphics. But, I don’t think I’m ready for the same type of thing for the 39th or 40th.
It seems that every birthday to me is like new years to other people. I’m not talking about that long night of celebration, but rather a time for looking back over the past year and thinking about what went well, things I did that I liked, disliked, and where I want to be at the following year at this same time. It becomes a day of reflection and that is where video games come into this.
I have had plenty of “spare” time this year and have played many games that I haven’t had time to in the past few years that were just too intensely busy for that. I think people’s likes change and at this point, I don’t see enough satisfaction coming from the gaming elements - no matter the quality of the title released. I am finding my happiness in doing things that require more than what a video game could ever deliver. I have ambitions and goals that will take serious time and video games largely take away from that.
While I still have a few months left before the big day, I have a feeling that my mind will not change and that gaming will be reserved for my childhood and for when I’m too old to do anything else. In the meantime, I will be complete the levels in my own real world life and max out my skills doing the things that I think will be the ultimate game - real life.
One of the topics that is constantly on the minds of people in their 20’s and early-mid 30’s is the idea of “settling down” and having kids, getting married, maybe a couple dogs, and doing things by the time honored traditions. I have went down the dog path and have found it incredibly rewarding and a great adventure of learning. The others not so much.
After years of being focused on other things, it seems like such an adventure to get involved so much as to have a kid. Every year when Father’s day comes around, I wonder what it’s like for those people who will end up getting a “best dad” coffee mug, wearing a you can't scare me I have 2 daughters shirt (let alone the I have three daughters or I have four daughters versions!).
Obviously, the rewards of being a father are nothing to do with the silly shirts and other trinkets. I imagine they probably only get used a couple times as it is, but it raises a further question. What in any sane person’s mind would raising kids in today’s crazy world be thought of as a thing people would want to do?
I have plenty of time to ponder these things and while there do seem to be a certain group of people that will shy away from having a family due to their careers, finances, or any other number of things, there is a very strong case to be made for furthering your family’s lineage. Growing older, it becomes apparent that there needs to be some sort of reason for doing what we do day in and day out. One of the demographics that do not have kids are highly educated and high IQ individuals. From my own speculation, they seem to be finding their own unique reasons to justify the grind in a way that does not involve having kids. The alternate is that more traditional people with less emphasis placed on intellectual pursuits seem to find that having kids is a sure fire way to develop that “reason” of life.
The funny thing is, that I think both groups eventually find it. As is described in the meme’d cult following book of the past generation, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, it’s all about the adventure. Whatever path is chosen will feel like it was the correct one.