Imagine your teacher sits you down and offers you a project. She says “I have a difficult assignment for you, if you complete it you will never have to do another homework again, go to class, or attend schooling of any sort again. However… if you fail to complete it, you will open a mystery box no one has ever been able to talk about opening and on the other side, you may experience an entirely different reality, a heaven, even a hell, but to the best of my knowledge you will simply cease to exist. It is likely you will never go outside again, never see mom or dad in their human form, and never have another jolly rancher” What would you say? You would probably think about it long and hard, you may even think of saying yes, but then you would think of the consequences. The chance of no more recess, no more candy, no more sleepovers. Ever. You would really rather just continue to do what’s necessary to keep up the life you have. Imagine if you failed you would lose everything you know. When you think about losing the ability to go out and play, eat candy, and have sleepovers, it makes you appreciate the time you do get to do those things. You go back to her and thank her for her offer but agree to stick to the normal regime.
Ms. Smith apologizes. She gets a stern look on her face and says “I am sorry little buddy you have no choice in taking on this assignment. You now have a time limit. If you finish it before times up you can enjoy countless recesses, thousands, millions, billions. You could do anything and everything you could ever imagine in the entire playground. Your other option is to blow it off, you can use that allotted amount of time that you had for the project and have one more recess. You may not be able to do the swing sets AND the teeter-totter but whichever you pick, you could really enjoy it, knowing it’s temporary. After that recess, you will have to open the mystery box, and what lies behind there is truly a mystery, it could be an eternity of suffering and pain or the opposite. You will always be able to go there even if you take the project route, but once you decide to open it. You can never go back. Now it is up to you to decide. Go play, or try to complete this project and be able to play every single day for as long as you want.
Good choice! Although you know you would pick that, from here on out you have a chance to be a spectacle. The rest here on out is of your free will. As your perception will perceive this moment is that you have been there all along, memories of the days before, memories of childhood, and all the things you learned over those years. Some of your prior traits will help you, some will hold you back. Two starting points are never the same. The project is more than a fun thought experiment. It is the only thing you should hope to witness accomplished. You see, the thought experiment is a metaphor for the current state of reality you live in. If you think life is a video game and you are the player, welcome to stage 1. Your teacher is this article, recess is the universe, and the mystery box is death. The project is a checkpoint, get there before time runs out and you will have more than enough for checkpoint 2.
You know a few things for certain:
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You do not know everything
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As time moves forward you learn more
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You have under a century to figure out how to not become dust
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DNA is the code of every life form, mutating over time to build better and better carriers for itself to ensure its continued existence.
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Humans are the most adaptable animal, fit to survive in most scenarios. Not because they have the most strength, not because they can run the fastest, not because they have the sharpest claws. But because they can think about the future, reason, and create things to help them be more ready for it.
This game is set to a medium difficulty level. You will have a multitude of paths into the completion of round 1. Your grit, your social ability, and your willpower will be put to the test how quickly can you fully take control over the other Human OS. How fast can you beat the pulling will of the addicted mind? Can you abolish pride, envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed from your Human OS, and utilize them on your quest? Or will you succumb to rationalizations of doubt, fear is the number one killer? Will you make your way into a team of billionaires? Are you going to lock yourself in a study and experiment on yourself, alone in solitude? Recently a new tool was placed in the game. CRISPR once mastered will result in indefinite bodily life, adjustments, and enhancements unfathomable to us at this time. Watch out! Misuse of this tool can open up the mystery box. Who knows if you could ever master it yourself? Perhaps you should use your resources to find some other humans to help. After all, they are just like you.
Your life’s a story, how do you want to tell it?