Life: A Roll of the Dice
Life is a Game.
The more I think about it, the more I believe it. Each person is a character thrown into a complex simulation with some universal rules (physics, chemistry and math) and a lot of local/specific challenges or “levels”.
Many people believe that if you play better than others, you’ll move up the “levels” and end up getting what you want. To become wealthy, all you need to do is work hard (and smart) enough. Don’t be a wage slave, build your own companies, excel at what you do and you will be influential or famous. That’s the recipe for winning in this game.
It’s easy to believe this: “we are the masters of our fate”. I thought similarly in the past, but my perspective has changed as I’ve gotten older (nearing 30 now, geez). What do I think now?
Life is a game indeed, but a random game. It’s more like a dice roll: a gamble that’s mostly out of your control.
Inequality
I had a conversation about this topic recently. What do I think about the world we have created? A world where some are born and live their whole lives in lavishness and luxury, but most are born and die in misery and poverty…
At the time, I gave a very short answer - life is simply unfair. But with everything happening right now around the world, this answer isn’t enough for me. I want to unravel my thoughts and examine this topic deeper. I must find a better answer for myself. So, where do we start?
By looking at the randomness of the world and how it manifests in this game, cruelly determining your life before you were even born.
When someone is born, the universe rolls the dice. What’s it going to decide this time?
• The country you were born in:
Even though there is no need to point this out, the differences between life in the US, Singapore, Bulgaria and Liberia are huge. There is no perfect country or location, of course. Both the slums in Liberia and the lavish mansions in Bel Air have their own struggles and suffering. But if we had a choice between the two, I know what you’ll be picking.
I was born and have lived most of my life in Bulgaria, the poorest country in the EU. Even though this is a country in Europe, many people in the West still don’t realize the life people live here. Apart from the capital, Sofia, the median income is lower than 300 EUR per month. And still, this is inconceivably more than what people can get in the poorest regions around the world.
Corruption in my country is not just something that happens sometimes and is frowned upon. It happens all the time, everywhere and to such an extent that it has become ingrained in the way our society works. Most of the country is owned by oligarchs, a small group of people who decide the rules of this “democracy” and how to divert taxpayers' money into their pockets while the police chase down individuals for smoking weed.
It’s a pretty interesting dynamic, I have to say.
But, do you know what? We still have the choice to escape, to play the game somewhere else. Millions if not billions of others are not so lucky. Yes, all Bulgarians are lucky in that regard, because we have this possibility. The game favours us by allowing us an exit.
Imagine, instead, what it’s like being a child in a war-torn country that is ravaged between the insatiable appetites of the US, China and Russia? Your family disappeared, your home was blown to dust, the whole city has been turned to rubble and the only person giving you a hand is a rebel soldier, ready to execute you if you flee. What choice is that?
The first roll of the dice is crucial and like all of them, totally out of our control. Yes, there is no perfect country or location, but there are places where you’d never want to go to. Places where water and food are luxuries, where death and despair linger in the air.
We’re the lucky ones, reading these words on our computers in the safety of our homes.
• Your parents:
Were you blessed with a loving and caring family? What about wealth, what kind of wealth were you born into?
Until I was 5, my parents, grandparents and aunt all lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in a working-class neighbourhood in Sofia.
My dad came to the big city with nothing to his name, leaving behind his life in the military. He saw an opportunity in the falling communist regime and decided to buy a few pair of jeans from Turkey to sell them back home. He couldn’t afford to buy more. My mom was a nurse and worked 6 days a week, 10-hour shifts for a measly salary of 150 EUR in return.
They may have had nothing monetarily, but still managed to build a loving and caring family together. I’m so proud of what they’ve done and how they raised me.
Just as easily, the dice could’ve decided that I’ll be an orphan. Or born in a toxic and abusive environment. So many kids around the world suffer from domestic abuse or have to deal with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Nobody would choose that life if they could. Those kids deserve much better. A society that stands behind them, defends them and gives them opportunities to grow, learn and become the best versions of themselves. Instead, we toss them aside and rarely think about them...This thought infuriates me.
What else does the universe decide for you?
• The colour of your skin
• Your gender
• Your genetics
• Your first school, teachers and class
And many more, you get the deal. All these things, we did not choose. And yet all over the world, we treat each other terribly because of them.
Control is an Illusion
How much of your life do you think you have real control over? 60%? 40%? Sam Harris often argues that free will doesn’t exist. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong, but if I had to give a number, it would definitely be lower than 10%. Our brains, however, are really good at giving us the wrong impression, that we are the ones in control and it’s because of us that we ended up in a certain situation - good or bad.
If you’re in a slump, I want you to know and to understand this: You are not the problem. Almost all of your life was pre-determined before you were born. Cut yourself some slack, but don’t give up!
You can still play the game and win. It’s better than not playing at all haha.
To me, this is not scary. In fact, it’s kind of liberating. We’re not the gods deciding our own fate. And so, we shouldn’t be so harsh on ourselves when things go wrong. The dice was already rolled.
We are all specks of dust, minuscule and insignificant, pushed and pulled by the mighty ocean of life.
