Are We Who We Think We Are?

It's an oft-referenced saying that you are the hero of your own story, just like how people never really see themselves as the villain.

Yes, I was thinking of this sketch. From imgflip.

This has some interesting effects when considering where we came from versus where we're going. We try to make sense of our lives and unconsciously put ourselves in the best light possible. Nobody likes to think of their ancestors as mere peasants. But that's the thing, isn't it? Just on sheer numbers alone, most people living today came from peasant --or worse-- stock. 

Although perhaps another quote from Henry David Thoreau would be a more apt one: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.* In that respect, the desire to see yourself as the hero is quite strong.

Where would the video game market be without the ability to see ourselves as the hero? Or the pencil and paper RPG market? Or even the printed word? 

We as humans watch sporting events and cheer on our chosen teams experiencing highs and lows through their exploits. Just ask Liverpool fans what it meant when they finally won the Premier League, or Chicago Cubs fans when they finally broke the century long curse and won the World Series in 2016. Or ask Crystal Palace fans when Manchester United came from behind to beat them in the FA Cup in 2016.

So... When we play the hero in a game, is it escapism? Or do we delude ourselves into thinking that everything we do in our lives can turn us into the hero, and we feel cheated when we're not considered as such, even in something as a video game? Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question, but the older I get the more I wonder whether in our youth we convince ourselves of our own greatness and then spend the rest of our lives dealing with the disillusionment that follows. If we're lucky, we find a sort of equilibrium, where we can acknowledge our highs and lows in equal measure and simply accept ourselves for what we are.

Nothing in particular really triggered this introspection, but it has been growing on me for a while now. I can't look at the elitism found in a lot of activities --we see it in gamers/gaming and comics, but it's prevalent everywhere-- without wondering just how much of that is driven by that insecurity that we feel when we wrestle with the reality that we aren't the heroes we imagine ourselves to be.

*Here's the full quote in context from Thoreau's book Civil Disobedience and Other Essays: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”

#Blaugust2024