“‘In the end, it’s just a game, so do what you want. If you want to kill someone, kill them. If you want to steal, you steal.’ I’ve met more people who think that way than I’d want. In a way, it’s true. I used to think the same way. But it’s not true… There are things you have to protect especially because it’s a virtual world. I learned that from someone important. If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that it changes your personality in the real world. The player and the character are one and the same.” ~Kirigaya Kazuto
Whether you’re spending time with friends and family, playing a game, or working a job, it doesn’t matter; the choices you make shape who you will be.
Perhaps, who I will be already exists. Linguistically, my future self’s existence can’t be denied: they currently occupy space in my mind.
I’ve heard others, as well as myself, express something along the lines of, “it’s a game, so…,” or, “it’s a job, so…” Previously, I’ve felt that it is more than appropriate to take the words at face-value; it just didn’t feel right to get nitpicky about word choice. I’d argue that this is because I hadn’t yet developed certain trains of thought and narratives to an extent that made me feel comfortable with doing so. However, now, I am comfortable enough with acknowledging the fact that, in certain contexts, the words “game” and “job” have very little meaning to me.
The variety of experiences I’ve had give me reason to believe that there are many ways of approaching a game and of approaching a job. If I don’t get a substantive amount of information on where a person is coming from as they use the words “game” and/or “job,” I may exercise my freedom to interpret their words in a way that does not align with their values. In paying respects to this possibility, it may be worthwhile to ask someone who is trying to make a point while using the word “game,” and/or the word “job,” to say more about what they mean.
Before now, it’s been somewhat apparent to me, but never more apparent than now–that is, that I am of a multilingual disposition, and that Sword Art Online (a.k.a. SAO) is an anime that contains strong messages about navigating through multilingual contexts.
In reflecting on times where I suppressed my voice while someone in my life argued that I should do something because ‘it’s part of your job’ or that it’s alright to do something because ‘it’s a game,’ I’m apt to recall Hinata Shoyo’s words, “[Fighting and not being able to back down is normal].” As much as I want to back down for the sake of fostering peace and tranquility, I feel like now is the time to stand my ground; perhaps, slowly but surely, I will come out as someone who is standing their ground.
Right now, speaking in conventional terms, my languages are English, French, and Khmer. Speaking in unconventional terms, I speak in the following dialects of English: capitalism, career advising, mixtures of capitalism and career advising, and more. The dialects of English that I speak span across academic disciplines, industries of work, religious spheres, and other types of cultural worlds; and I’m thinking that I should keep this in mind as I take steps towards certain goals of mine.
With regards to SAO, “two” dialects of [English; Japanese; etc.] have been spotlighted; we could consider these “two” dialects as ‘reality’ and ‘virtual reality.’
If I were to pursue a PhD in anthropology at this moment in time, my topic of desired study would be: “When did humans start implementing distinctions between ‘reality’ and ‘virtual reality’? What have such distinctions enabled humanity to do, and how have they inhibited humanity?” Perhaps these questions are too jam-packed with emotion for the field of anthropology. Then again, maybe not. Anthropology is one of a few fields of study that I’ve seen creativity embodied in the most.
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Picture coming soon
Pasfut Trailblazing 