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S
Surprise, surprise… Guess who’s here?
P
Surprise?
S
I’m not sure about that. I have a question for you, mind if I ask?
P
Sure, go ahead.
S
How is it possible that your name is Play, yet I sense some sadness and fatigue in your tone?
P
That’s a great question – it’s quite counterintuitive, actually. Just because my name is Play, people assume my life is like a blossoming garden. I don’t see it that way. I look at myself more like water.
S
Water?
P
Yes, water. There’s something about water that makes it so special and unique. It’s hard to describe it with words – it’s more of a feeling, you know? Our terminology isn’t quite there yet. Nevertheless, I’ll explain to you why water is something so close to my heart. Growing up, I used to take myself very seriously. It was definitely not fun and lasted for a couple of years. My mom eventually took me to this psychologist who diagnosed me with something called “atelophobia”. What do psychologists know about life anyway? I’ve had to figure out on my own how to get out of that bubble.
S
What's "atelophobia"?
P
I would describe it as the fear of not being perfect. It's similar to being a perfectionist, but people who have this condition are so afraid of failing that they end up not even trying. Living in fear, can you imagine?
S
What did you do?
P
I became like water.
S
How did you become like water?
P
You are a very curious person, I’m starting to like you. Growing up with the Internet, I started to understand I could reverse engineer my life and become whatever I wanted to. Once I realized that there’s not really any limitation, I decided to become like water.
S
That’s a peculiar choice.
P
I’ve always looked at life as a choice between intellectual honesty and ego. Intellectual honesty is just a fancy way to say “play”. Ego is everything we do to seek status. Just by observing adults, I realized many of them are just seeking status. Honestly, they look miserable; I’m quite good at spotting sad people. Kids, on the other hand, have this playful view of the world. It’s something very intrinsic and doesn't come from ego. Ego is the worst thing in life, it destroys everything. People usually develop an ego when they start compromising on things they love in order to do things they don’t want to do. Eventually, this “ego” thing starts growing, and people start pretending to love what they do. That’s why I became water. Water has no ego and seeks no status. Water flows.
S
I agree with you, ego is the worst thing we can have. However, you mentioned earlier that people assume your life is like a blossoming garden due to your lusory attitude. Isn’t a blossoming garden more exciting than water?
P
I see my life more like dirt, as opposed to a blossoming garden. Dirt gives you the opportunity to grow new things, it makes room for surprises. I’m more interested in the process than in the outcome. That’s why my name is Play.
S
So... you want to be useful? Doesn't growth require persistence and attachment? I thought you were flowing, like water. Detach a plant from its dirt and it will quickly die.
P
It's a never-ending process. I keep trying to find the balance between commitment and non-attachment; that's the reason why you said you heard some fatigue in my voice. Finding this balance is not always an easy task, especially when you care.
S
But still, I have one question left. Since you became like water, have you found seeds to nurture?
P
I’m starting to find them. They were always here, but somehow I was distracted. They say “think globally, act locally”, right? I always believed that but, due to the Internet, we can act globally in a permissionless way. For quite some time, I was looking for places of local abundance. It’s like I was looking for a Schelling Point) for all playful actors. We are all unpaid actors in this game of life. Recently, I found out that the Internet is a beautiful Schelling Point for us. It made local abundance a global place. We’re all together in this campfire now! We can play, we can build, we can create, we can discuss ideas.
It’s a great time for people who have chosen intellectual honesty over ego. Another counterintuitive thing is that, since I want to be like water, people assume that I don’t want to have an impact. That’s just wrong.
S
What sort of impact do you wish to have? You mentioned that currently we can have this global mindset, thanks to the Internet.
P
Ideally, global impact. Through software and open source collaboration, we can create more and more tools. Tools are very important. Composability is a powerful force, we all enjoy LEGOs right? They are fun to play with. Find someone who you can build LEGOs with, that’s what a friend is supposed to be. Friends like to solve problems together, and they often have aligned incentives and values. Spending a lifetime building with friends is a concept that makes this game way more appealing. Build for fun, don’t think about numbers. Adults are the ones who think about that. You can’t have a lusory attitude and be an adult, you need to keep that childlike vision of the world. We like to play and the world is our playground.
Anyway, we’re talking about me for quite a bit. So… you still haven’t told me. Who are you really?
S
Someone.