I broadly agree with the conclusions (not with the arguments) though from a 2025 perspective they do not feel novel (the value of challenge, destination vs journey, agency and authenticity are discussed within self help books).
On the arguments:
Work
what is a computer game except synthetic work?
Games and work have a few common points sure, but they have huge differences:
we must work to live, we play games if we feel like it
we cannot stop working, we can stop playing anytime
(some) work is unpleasant, the games we play are fun (else we don’t play them)
work is optimized to maximize shareholder value, games are optimized for fun (admittedly not the case for mobile games etc)
work is often tedious and unchallenging (not everyone is a scientist), games are fun and challenging
work is stressful and draining
I don’t think people will be bored or lazy without work, they will just have more time and creativity and put their effort and good will into their hobbies, whatever these are (for example, programming https://www.youtube.com/@TsodingDaily).
Nirvana
why not a process of passive experiencing, like the Buddhist Heaven?
even if you lie down on your bed
Nirvana is a fuzzy concept and I am not sure what you mean exactly by passive, but I want to clarify that Nirvana does not necessarily imply doing nothing:
Zen puts some emphasis on bringing the realization back in daily life “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”
In Vajrayana there is emphasis on embracing all of reality (samsara is nirvana) including emotions, actions etc. See https://www.youtube.com/@frankyang/videos for a modern practitioner that exemplifies this.
I think the “passive” perception of Nirvana comes from its “no-self” aspect (modeling one self as an impermanent process that unfolds on its own?). This may be more clearly understood through the Taoist Wu-Wei concept “When you arrive at non-action, nothing will be left undone. Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.” It’s not that nothing happens, but that you can let go of your Self and the universe (including you) still moves on its own (and it moves smoother).
External reality
It matters to me whether or not the person I love is a real human being or just a highly realistic nonsentient chatbot, even if I don’t know, because that-which-I-value is not my own state of mind, but the external reality.
How does the “even if I don’t know” part work in practice though? does your utility auto-magically go down the instant your teacher grades you 0 on your homework?
My experience is that it goes down when I see the grade. I can say I care about the real world, but in the end I can only update based on what I experience.
Another example to drive home that utility depends on your map of the territory: the teacher grades me 0 on my homework but my friend tells me I got 100, so my utility goes up, whereas according to reality it should go down.
I broadly agree with the conclusions (not with the arguments) though from a 2025 perspective they do not feel novel (the value of challenge, destination vs journey, agency and authenticity are discussed within self help books).
On the arguments:
Work
Games and work have a few common points sure, but they have huge differences:
we must work to live, we play games if we feel like it
we cannot stop working, we can stop playing anytime
(some) work is unpleasant, the games we play are fun (else we don’t play them)
work is optimized to maximize shareholder value, games are optimized for fun (admittedly not the case for mobile games etc)
work is often tedious and unchallenging (not everyone is a scientist), games are fun and challenging
work is stressful and draining
I don’t think people will be bored or lazy without work, they will just have more time and creativity and put their effort and good will into their hobbies, whatever these are (for example, programming https://www.youtube.com/@TsodingDaily).
Nirvana
Nirvana is a fuzzy concept and I am not sure what you mean exactly by passive, but I want to clarify that Nirvana does not necessarily imply doing nothing:
Zen puts some emphasis on bringing the realization back in daily life “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”
In Vajrayana there is emphasis on embracing all of reality (samsara is nirvana) including emotions, actions etc. See https://www.youtube.com/@frankyang/videos for a modern practitioner that exemplifies this.
I think the “passive” perception of Nirvana comes from its “no-self” aspect (modeling one self as an impermanent process that unfolds on its own?). This may be more clearly understood through the Taoist Wu-Wei concept “When you arrive at non-action, nothing will be left undone. Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.” It’s not that nothing happens, but that you can let go of your Self and the universe (including you) still moves on its own (and it moves smoother).
External reality
How does the “even if I don’t know” part work in practice though? does your utility auto-magically go down the instant your teacher grades you 0 on your homework?
My experience is that it goes down when I see the grade. I can say I care about the real world, but in the end I can only update based on what I experience.
Another example to drive home that utility depends on your map of the territory: the teacher grades me 0 on my homework but my friend tells me I got 100, so my utility goes up, whereas according to reality it should go down.