Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn, a.k.a. Random Terrain.
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Page Table of Contents
What goes around, comes around
An open door may tempt a saint
Access accelerates development
Clean the mess while it's fresh
We all know that a game should be fun, but a fun game can also promote good habits or impart wisdom that can benefit people in real life. You can use this page to find a ‘moral of the story’ to use in your latest game. For example, if you want your game to promote the idea that putting things where they go is better for everyone, a place for everything and everything in its place is the ‘moral of the story’ you'd want to use in your game. Scroll down the page and see if anything tickles your brain.
A place for everything and everything in its place.
When an item has an assigned place where it should be stored and it's put back there every time, people will always know where it is if they need it in a hurry. You can't lose it if you always put it where it belongs. There's also no clutter to trip over when everything is put where it's supposed to go.
Your game could show how needed objects might get lost if they're not put away. Another idea would be to show how clutter can slow down the player. When objects are put back after they are used, the player can move twice as fast since the playfield isn't cluttered with objects.
80 percent of success is showing up.
A lot of people sit around dreaming about something they'd like to do, but they never get up and do something about it. Showing up and starting down the path to the goal is more than a lot of people do. It doesn't guarantee success, but it gets a person closer than other people who are just sitting on their hands.
Your game could show how just showing up means that the player is 80 percent more likely to succeed. For example, in a tribal simulation game where NPCs are hunting, fishing, fighting and so on, if the player shows up to participate in one of those activities, there is a much greater chance of success. So if the player's tribe is low on food and OK in other areas, the player would be smart to focus on a food activity.
An object in motion stays in motion…
It's harder to get the ball rolling when it's at rest since objects tend to "keep on doing what they're doing." Once the ball is rolling, momentum makes it harder to stop. For example, just showing up, starting a project, and working on that project a little bit every day creates momentum and it should become increasingly easier to finish that project. Starting is where the magic begins. Sitting around waiting for inspiration usually leads to more sitting around.
Your game could show that success is like a campfire that needs to be fed regularly or the fire will go out. In a business simulation, money must be spent on advertizing so the public won't forget about the product or service.
The Art of Momentum: Why Your Ideas Need Speed
4 Cures for Chronic Procrastination
Deal with a problem early before it gets too large to handle. For example, a small dragon is easier to kill than a full-grown dragon that is larger than a bus.
There are many ways that your game could use this concept. The player could destroy a robot replicator before there are too many evil robots to deal with. Another idea could be that fixing an item would be quicker and easier than letting the damage go too far until the item is unfixably broken and needs to be replaced. Replacing the item would cost more and waste a lot more time than fixing it.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
In a game, this could be merged with 'nip it in the bud' to get rid of the weakest items or parts before the whole 'chain' fails.
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
Sure, it means ‘don't procrastinate,’ but you can go further and say “maintenance is preparation for the unexpected.” You can't wait until the last second to fix everything because there's not enough time. For example, if you do a small amount of work every day to keep your house clean and tidy, you won't need to run around trying to clean and put things away when unexpected visitors arrive (becoming irritated and embarrassed that you couldn't get it all done). In a game, the player could learn that taking care of things before they pile up and become unmanageable is the way to go.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
One person doesn't have to lose for another person to win. The success of others will provide opportunities that can help everyone succeed.
Your game could show how cooperation can be better than cutthroat competition. Check out the cooperative games at Amazon (#ad) for inspiration.
Quotes on Competition and Cooperation
When you stick your nose into other people's business and try to help, it can feel like you hit a wasps' nest with a baseball bat. The Prime Directive isn't just for Star Trek.
Your game could show how helping someone is a good idea, but only when the help is asked for. Rushing in uninvited to help someone is service to self, not service to others. Helping without consent is imposing your will. It's forcing your control over others. See good aliens do not violate free will for more information.
What goes around, comes around.
A good or bad action is like a stone thrown into the center of a small pond. The ripple will go out, then eventually bounce back to the spot where the stone hit the water.
Your game could show that the ripples from invited helping and other good deeds bounce back and benefit the player. Ripples from bad deeds and forcing their will on others bounce back and damage the player.
Everything in life boils down to service to others versus service to self and the balance between the two. Montalk.net had this to say about it:
STO means “service to others”—both these terms were used in abbreviated form later in the Cassiopaean Material.
These represent the negative/positive spiritual orientations, or paths of spiritual evolution. The STO path serves self by also serving others. The STS path serves self at the expense of others. STO is the path of balance and maximum freewill, while STS is the path of imbalance and maximum control over others.
There’s a common misconception that STO means never serving self, and blindly serving others and getting eaten alive by abusers taking advantage of one’s kindness.
That is not at all what STO is. STO is serving the spiritual upliftment and empowerment of others, which doesn’t happen when you’re just feeding their egos or predatory impulses.
If you are unwise and ruin your health and life overextending yourself, you end up reducing your lifespan and energy and thereby reduce how much total positive impact you can have. Which is why STO is about balance and maximization, balance between self and others.
STS is a path of evolution in the sense that one becomes more perfected as a separated fragment of the Creator, by rebelling against Creation and trying to make everyone else an extension of your will. The end destination of that path is to merge with the sleeping half of creation, which is physical matter. Before that, such beings make it up the ranks of the demonic hierarchy and eventually cave in on themselves from being so dark and low vibrational.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Although big risks can bring big rewards, if you get greedy and go for those ‘two birds,’ you could lose the bird or points or treasure you already have and end up with nothing. Play it safe or risk everything is a nice dilemma that is in many video games.
You'll miss an opportunity if you wait too long. You want to be patient and wait until the time is right, but as soon as the time is right, you better make hay while the sun shines.
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
This could also be called "don't slow down or celebrate until you reach the end zone or the finish line." This has happened in all kinds of sports, including American football. A guy will slow down and start celebrating as soon as he thinks he's about to reach the end zone, then he'll get tackled or the ball will get knocked out of his hand. Goodbye touchdown. Slowing down, showboating, strutting, dancing, fist pumping, and so on before the task has been completed is usually a sign that the person is an egomaniac or an idiot or both.
Your game could show that success is more likely if the player stays on his or her toes. Anything can happen between the player's current position and the goal, so he or she needs to pay attention.
An open door may tempt a saint.
Don't tempt people. Keep your stuff locked up and out of view or even a saint might be tempted to steal from you.
Your game could show that items can be stolen if the player is reckless.
Be vigilant and deal with time limits and avoid atrophy. This can apply to exercising your muscles and your brain. It can also apply to many other things such as practicing a skill, avoiding long-term storage of machines, taking a paid vacation within a certain time period, using food before it expires, and so on.
Your game could show that certain objects have expiration dates or that there is often a window of time when something can be done. If the player misses an opportunity, another opportunity may appear, but it may not be as good.
Access accelerates development.
Global development requires paved roads, mobility, education, access to jobs and services, access to clean water, food, plumbing, and electricity. In a game about societies, the player could improve impoverished areas and Third World countries by building paved roads and making sure that citizens can get clean water and food. The addition of plumbing, electricity, education, emergency services and so on would improve things even more.
This is very important if you are making a SimCity or Civilization type of game. Have the player improve impoverished areas by doing things such as adding roads and providing clean, running water.
Rural roads important to global development
Lack of roads, transport and water are seen as defining characteristics of poverty
I can't find a good idiom or saying for this one, so I made my own. If you use up a resource that is necessary for your survival, you're probably going to die. For example, if your tribe depends on the fish in a lake to survive and overfishing would deplete the supply, preservation of resources becomes important. Sustainable fishing makes sure your tribe will always have fish to eat. If you don't protect your resources and decide to gobble up everything for a quick temporary gain, everyone loses.
Your game could show how overuse of certain renewable resources can lead to starvation or other problems.
Overfishing is Emptying World's Rivers, Lakes, Experts Warn
Wikipedia: Sustainable Fishery
Wise multitasking (smart task management).
I can't find a saying for this one either. Below is a list of unwise multitasking where both jobs end up being poorly done or taking longer than they should:
Wise multitasking is putting clothing in the washer or dryer or putting food in the oven, then doing shorter jobs while you wait. Some people unwisely do the shorter jobs first, then start the washer, dryer, oven, or whatever it is that takes a long time without needing their attention. It's inefficient. The time they needlessly waste could be spent on more enjoyable activities. A game could be made to teach that shorter jobs can be done while waiting for longer jobs to be finished. Below is a list of wise multitasking:
Clean the mess while it's fresh.
Cleaning a mess while it's fresh can save a lot of time and energy. For example, if you are cooking and get sauce or gravy on the stove, it's quicker and easier to wipe it off right away. If you let the mess sit there for many hours, it will become much harder to clean up. A quick swipe of a damp paper towel or dishcloth is so much easier than scrubbing away at a dried on mess.
Same thing for a kitchen sink. If you wash down the mess when it's fresh, nobody will have to stand there for 10 minutes scrubbing the sink out many hours later.
This is similar to nip it in the bud. Your game could have messes that the player has to clean up and the longer the player waits, the darker a mess object gets. Cleaning up a fresh mess object would be instantaneous. Every time a mess object gets a notch darker, it takes even longer to remove.
Leave it better than how you found it.
Some people clean up their own messes, put out their campfire before moving on, refuse to litter, and generally try to leave it no worse than how they found it, even if they can't find the time to make it better. They have a pleasant, helpful, ‘for the greater good’ way about them. A smaller percentage of those people do more than cleaning up after themselves. They'll pick up litter that others have thoughtlessly tossed on the ground, help scrub away or paint over graffiti, and do other things that leave it better than how they found it.
This is similar to what goes around, comes around and a place for everything and everything in its place. Your game could show players that going above and beyond what is expected can bring unexpected benefits.
Leave It Better Than You Found It - The Emotion Machine
Leave this world a little better than you found it. (Robert Baden-Powell)
Good aliens do not violate free will.
Many games seem to include aliens from outer space or another dimension. According to some people, positive aliens have their own version of Star Trek's Prime Directive. Montalk.net had this to say about it:
Positive aliens are those who have transcended the vices and limitations that still challenge us, who have attained the heights of spiritual chivalry and serve Creation in the name of freedom, truth, and love. They value spirituality over physicality, respect the freewill of others, and subtly guide us toward fulfilling our spiritual potential without smothering us into becoming dependent on such guidance.
This is also from Montalk.net:
The positive aliens are very discreet, non-interventionist, yet at the same time omnipresent. Whereas the negative ones are pushy, showy, manipulative, grandiose, and have a swoop-in-and-grab attitude. When negative pretend to be positive, it's always to give some phoney message or get you to do something against your better judgment, trying to extort a choice from you, whereas positive aliens give suggestions and appeal to your inner understanding but don't try to twist your arm with lies and stage illusions.
You can use that information when making various types of games that include aliens or where the player is playing the part of an alien.
Did you know that Trump's rushed experimental rona jab has less than one percent overall benefit? It also has many possible horrible side effects. Some brainwashed rona jab cultists claim that there are no victims of the jab, but person after person will post what the jab did to them, a friend, or a family member on web sites such as Facebook and Twitter and they'll be lucky if they don't get banned soon after. Posting the truth is “misinformation” don't you know. Awakened sheep might turn into lions, so powerful people will do just about anything to keep the sheep from waking up.
Check out these videos:
What is causing the mysterious self-assembling non-organic clots?
If You Got the COVID Shot and Aren't Injured, This May Be Why
Take a look at my page called The H Word and Beyond. You might also want to look at my page called Zinc and Quercetin. My sister and I have been taking those two supplements since summer of 2020 in the hopes that they would scare away the flu and other viruses (or at least make them less severe).
Some people appear to have a mental illness because they have a vitamin B deficiency. For example, the wife of a guy I used to chat with online had severe mood swings which seemed to be caused by food allergies or intolerances. She would became irrational, obnoxious, throw tantrums, and generally act like she had a mental illness. The horrid behavior stopped after she started taking a vitamin B complex. I've been taking Jarrow B-Right (#ad) for many years. It makes me much easier to live with.
Unfermented soy is bad! “When she stopped eating soy, the mental problems went away.” Fermented soy doesn't bother me, but the various versions of unfermented soy (soy flour, soybean oil, and so on) that are used in all kinds of products these days causes a negative mental health reaction in me that a vitamin B complex can't tame. The sinister encroachment of soy has made the careful reading of ingredients a necessity.
If you are overweight, have type II diabetes, or are worried about the condition of your heart, check out the videos by Ken D Berry, William Davis, and Ivor Cummins. It seems that most people should avoid wheat, not just those who have a wheat allergy or celiac disease. Check out these books: Undoctored (#ad), Wheat Belly (#ad), and Eat Rich, Live Long (#ad).
Negative ions are good for us. You might want to avoid positive ion generators and ozone generators. A plain old air cleaner is better than nothing, but one that produces negative ions makes the air in a room fresher and easier for me to breathe. It also helps to brighten my mood.
Never litter. Toss it in the trash or take it home. Do not throw it on the ground. Also remember that good people clean up after themselves at home, out in public, at a campsite and so on. Leave it better than you found it.
Climate Change Cash Grab = Bad
Seems like more people than ever finally care about water, land, and air pollution, but the climate change cash grab scam is designed to put more of your money into the bank accounts of greedy politicians. Those power-hungry schemers try to trick us with bad data and lies about overpopulation while pretending to be caring do-gooders. Trying to eliminate pollution is a good thing, but the carbon footprint of the average law-abiding human right now is actually making the planet greener instead of killing it.
Eliminating farms and ranches, eating bugs, getting locked down in 15-minute cities, owning nothing, using digital currency (with expiration dates) that is tied to your social credit score, and paying higher taxes will not make things better and “save the Earth.” All that stuff is part of an agenda that has nothing to do with making the world a better place for the average person. It's all about control, depopulation, and making things better for the ultra-rich. They just want enough peasants left alive to keep things running smoothly.
Watch these two YouTube videos for more information:
Charlie Robinson had some good advice about waking up normies (see the link to the video below). He said instead of verbally unloading or being nasty or acting like a bully, ask the person a question. Being nice and asking a question will help the person actually think about the subject.
Interesting videos:
Charlie Robinson Talks About the Best Way to Wake Up Normies
Disclaimer
View this page and any external web sites at your own risk. I am not responsible for any possible spiritual, emotional, physical, financial or any other damage to you, your friends, family, ancestors, or descendants in the past, present, or future, living or dead, in this dimension or any other.