The 10 commandments of the NPC
For the uninitiated, the NPC (non-playable character) is defined as
(Internet slang, figuratively) A person with no ability to think for themselves; sheeple.
Most of us are NPC’s whether we like the fact or not and somewhat akin to the Dunning-Kruger effect, we have a tendency to believe we aren’t. Others are.
Even Nietzsche’s ‘Overman’, I bet displays some NPC characteristics once in a while. We all fall prey to the pleasures of the immediate and disregard future consequences sometimes. That’s just how we are. Some of us realize that and we actively try to break away from it.
Thou shalt not build.
The NPC must, under no circumstances execute on the idea that only through building something can he give meaning to his life.
Upon this realization, however he still mustn’t execute.
Internal sorrow must be externalized to build something that withstands the test of time. Something to call ‘his own’.
Philosopher Ernest Becker in his seminal work, ‘The Denial of Death’ refers to these as immortality projects.
The most common form of an immortality project is a ‘child’.
If another NPC, be so unfortunate as to be convinced to carry and propagate an NPC’s seed, a being with a potential to be a non- NPC is born. However, osmosis has it that the mere influence and proximity to the parent NPC will doom the child into being an NPC too.
Slow realization that the only way for the NPC to attain some kind of freedom from the shackles of limited money and limited ability to provide for his loved ones lies in an immortality project that serves society at large- thousands if not millions of people-in the form of making people healthier, wealthier or happier will still leave unaffected, his desire to build.
He’s safe and certain in his cocoon with the knowledge that another paycheck is coming that’ll barely get him through next month. He’s content with no uncertainty and no additional hardship. He doesn’t want to serve the masses, despite the immense payoff in the future because it is hard work and certainty is more comfortable.
Thou shalt be a passive consumer.
‘Oh look…underage teens dancing in an oversexualized manner’
7 seconds later
‘Oh, look… rich man flexing his supercar’
7 seconds later
‘Oh, look…cats’
The NPC is needs a constant stream of dopamine to blunt the pain of his existence.
Short bursts of novelty are crucial here for the NPC doesn’t have an attention span long enough to focus on one thing for long.
He consumes what entertains him and the consumption stops there.
There is no other purpose behind his consumption.
After consuming, he does not question why he devoted time to consuming what he just did.
Why did it entertain him?
Why did it offend him?
How can he use this knowledge and apply it to his own life, perhaps to make other people consume what he produces?
The NPC consumes mindlessly. He doesn’t filter content by usefulness. He consumes what lets him forget his current state.
Thou shalt not express.
The NPC has already lived a few years.
Perhaps he is too young to realize the folly of his ways but eventually he’ll come to the conclusion that something must change.
This is a turning point (impasse) where he decides ‘I have a gift. I have the gift of experience, age and knowledge perhaps many others don’t have. It would be a shame for me to not put these gifts out there’
He knows this but he still doesn’t take the time to talk about his experiences and learnings online so that people just a step behind him can learn from him.
Guiding the ones behind him, he’ll find to be fulfilling and enriching. But it takes work. So he doesn’t bother.
Thou shalt need a constant stream of cheap dopamine.
The NPC loves the immediate moment.
Not in a mindful way but as a hedonist.
The ultra-processed, hyper-palatable food is his best friend. The soulless, mass manufactured social media content is his main drug and boredom is the enemy.
He doesn’t set long-term goals and take tiny steps toward achieving them.
He doesn’t revel in the tiny accomplishments that take him an inch closer to his goals.
He is complacent. But the brain needs what the brain needs- at the very least an artificial stimulation of the senses.
So he indulges in what is readily available at his fingertips.
Porn, social media, sugar and MSG.
Not knowing that the habits he indulges in are but temporary band-aids for something he’s running away from- a life of simply existing and consuming.
Thou shalt be a slave to your feelings.
The NPC also doesn’t have any restraint.
He has an immediate reaction to every tiny impulse he has.
The modern world has made it incredibly easy have access to any pleasure at any time and so the NPC lets loose.
He doesn’t understand that what is pleasurable in the immediate is often detrimental for the tomorrow.
He doesn’t realize that emotions are simply reactions to situations.
Managing them and channeling them appropriately is a skill that requires hard work, restraint, patience and time but he is loath to it.
He doesn’t see that emotions are healthy, necessary and no emotion is ‘unjustified’. They arise on their own and it is on him to control them.
Failure to do so will have grave consequences.
Thou shalt feed your body and mind with crap.
Health, in body, mind and spirit is the NPC’s bane.
Sharpening the body takes difficult choices- in the form of whole, unprocessed foods, heavy compound lifts and cardio.
Sharpening the mind takes difficult books- philosophy, psychology, literature and business.
Sharpening the spirit takes difficult practices- meditation and contemplation.
They’re easy choices to make when looked at how sensible they are.
One egg today is better for tomorrow than a donut.
One book today is better for tomorrow than an Instagram reel.
One pullup today is better for tomorrow than lazing on the couch.
The thoughts he produces, beliefs he has and his physical image is a reflection of what he feeds his mind and body with.
The NPC knows this deep down inside. But remains indifferent.
Thou shalt not question your beliefs.
The NPC stumbles upon a piece of content he disagrees with because it hurt his feelings.
He’s too afraid to confront the fact that the best thing for him to do is to sit and analyze why it offended him.
He knows, deep down inside that two things will happen when he contemplates-
Either he analyzes the counterargument and finds out, through deliberate evidence-seeking that he was right all along in which case his belief grows even stronger
or
He finds out he was wrong, in which case he’s now forced to adopt a new worldview.
Either case presents him an opportunity for growth but he’s too afraid of the latter happening so he never questions. He clings on to his existing beliefs.
Thou shalt not have an identity of your own.
You were expecting this to start with ‘The NPC….’
I wish. It stabs me to start off with ‘Everyone’.
Everyone is born a blank slate.
Their identity is now decided for them.
They adopt the opinions and beliefs of others.
Their immediate guardians, usually the parents are no different.
Their identity is decided for by the media, their parents, celebrities.
They don’t know who they are.
They adopt an identity to fit in at school.
Then at uni.
Then at the soulless corporation they work for.
The ones who eventually realize this break free and forge their own identities.
They’re comfortable being alone and dedicate immense amounts of time to truly figure out who they are, want they want and why they exist.
The NPC stays the same. Failing to realize his obsession with fitting in makes him ugly and replaceable.
His thoughts are truly the thoughts of the ones who bestowed his identity on him- his friends, his teachers, the content he consumed online.
Thou shalt have ‘tomorrow’ as your best friend.
The NPC recognizes he’s an NPC after reading this article and change is required-
In body, mind and spirit.
‘Aah, it’s a Sunday…I start tomorrow’
‘Aah, I’ll wait for the 1st of next month’
‘Aah, I’ll take a nap first’
Somewhere out there, there is someone else that said, ‘I need to change…and I’ll do it now’.
When our NPC competes with him, he’ll lose.
The journey toward a non-NPC begins with recognizing that the best time to better oneself is now.
Tomorrow is an NPC’s best friend.
Thou shalt numb the pain of having to repeat the same cycle over and over again by any means necessary.
The NPC’s formative years are now over and he has come of age.
It is time now to leave the nest his parents built for him.
Soon he realizes that life isn’t easy.
Adulting isn’t easy.
It takes skill and mental fortitude to win but it’s way more comfortable staying the way he is now.
Deep inside, there’s a tiny thorn pricking him.
‘I can be so much more’, he thinks to himself.
This realization coupled with the fact that he isn’t doing anything to realize his potential leads him to numb his pain through any palliative he finds.
Life is just about ‘work’ to be able to afford respite in the form of a vacation. A vacation is where the ‘living’ happens and that is the sole reason for work.
Then it’s about producing offspring so that they undergo the same cycle ad infinitum.
‘Tomorrow is a new day…but it really isn’t’
‘I can be so much more…but I’ll go smoke some weed instead’.
