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The meaning of life refers to the philosophical question to the purpose and significance (or the lack of it) of biological life in general. The question can be answered by numerous faculties depending on the point of view. There is not one generally accepted point of view or answer to the question, and most people like to simply ask the question without trying to answer it. I'm not one of those cases. If I see a question, I begin to examine it, find a way to answer it and look out for paths to achieve it, and generally see what possible answers the question might have depending on the point of view.

Most philosophical questions that are asked can be answered, but not unambiguously. Most difficult philosophical questions can be looked at from different perspectives, and not all perspectives point to same answers, which is probably why the questions are seen as unanswered. Yet, in the question of life itself, I believe not all perspectives matter. It's my life, and my meaning of life, or people around me, so I don't have to care about all possible perspectives or outcomes, it's just my life that matters. This means that I can limit the observation to just my life, and factors that affect it. From here, I set on my quest to seek out the meaning of eLife.


Assumptions and premises

Before we can answer the question about life itself, we need to fix the perspective and define set some premises.

In physics, it is a general principle that nature follows the fastest and easiest path, the path that requires least work. This principle manifests itself for example in the Hamilton's principle, Fermat's principle and in many other physical applications. It is easy to see in nature and it is intuitive based on our experience about life around us. The principle is not as easy to see in some cases involving living beings, but it is there behind every action. From here I jump to a conclusion stating that the meaning of all functions of man is to fulfill all needs and desires, and to achieve a harmony with the environment. When have you not felt happy when all your desires have been fulfilled?



Regardless of my interpretation of meaning of life being so far about achieving a fulfillment of desires, let's move on and see where it leads us to. If we assume truly that the meaning of life is as stated above - to achieve as comfortable state of being as possible and to be one with the environment - how does that fit in with the fact that everything keeps changing constantly? You can't actually achieve harmony with the environment as the environment changes as soon as you achieve harmony. We can of course postulate that there is a state in which you are in equilibrium with the universe at one time, and after the environment changes, all you need to do after that is keep changing with it, to follow and be one with the universe, but it doesn't really help us in practical level or reveal anything philosophically interesting. Plus I don't like it. So, in order to get an answer to the question I asked in the beginning, I'm going to change the perspective a bit.


Meaning of life versus the meaning of individual's life


The biggest problem people face when they ask the question about the meaning of life is that they try to seek a definite answer to the meaning of life in general. I believe, the question about the meaning of life is in that sense poorly worded. Bô Yin Râ once said, that in order to get an answer to a question, you need to phrase the question properly. Once you've phrased it correctly, the answer comes naturally. That is the issue with the meaning of life too: the question needs to be rephrased.

As I said in the opening chapter, it's all a matter of perspective. I don't have to have an answer to the meaning of life in general, the specific case of my life only is enough. Therefore I can postulate, with regards to the pondering above, that achieving the sought equilibrium and harmony with the environment is individual, and that different factors affect achieving it in different cases. What this basically means is that the meaning of life is different for each individual.

Above, you can see that I've mixed the concepts of 'meaning' and 'destination', as in directly connecting the meaning of life to achieving something in your life. Maybe this is also one premise which misleads people and causes people to elude the answer to the question, as the meaning of life may not refer at all to the aim of life. Nevertheless, I'm going to deal the question about meaning of life as to what is the aim of life.

So, what am I aiming to achieve in my life? How can I achieve harmony with my environment and fulfill my desires in the never-endingly changing society? As human being is a complex being with psychological, sociological and physical needs, it is clearly not enough to just stay alive and fed, but one must also fulfill social and psychological needs in order to feel good about oneself. It all points towards the concept of happiness. One must be happy in life to feel one has fulfilled the meaning of life as defined above, as happiness is the psychological meter of achieving one's goals and desires.

But, to get to the point, I believe you can set goals for yourself, you can define the meaning of your own life if it is linked to the general principles of life stated above. As the meaning of life is defined here to be more of a reason, or an objective rather than an explanation in a linguistic sense, by setting goals for yourself you can define the meaning of life for yourself. Here comes the problem: what meaning to give to one's life? How can I know the meaning I decide to give is anyhow good for achieving the desires I have as in to feel happy? This is what you must answer for yourself, as it is in essence a question that no one else can answer for you, as the meaning of life is different for different people.

Now that I have finished defining the premises for meaning of life in general, I can move on to defining the meaning of eLife.


The meaning of eLife


Life in eRepublik is something different to the real life. In eRepublik, the issue is not so much about staying alive, so the question about meaning of eLife is heavily emphasized on the sociological and psychological sides of the life on eRepublik. In here, the goals you set for yourself are distinct and different from those in real life. Most people set out to become either careered in either politics, economics or in the military, which gives them different kind of goals to achieve. People in politics want to become congressmen, Party Presidents and Country Presidents, people in military wish to rank up and achieve Battle Hero and Resistance Hero medals, and so on. It is these goals which make people play the game. People must have objectives towards which to advance in order to continue playing. If they see no meaning in continuing playing, they quit. Yet the game is not that simple.

In eRepublik, I dare to say the goals defined by game mechanics are not the most pressing ones, at least not for me. Once you have achieved the rank of Field Marshal and you've been elected as the Country President, what else is there to actually achieve? Why continue playing after that, I ask. I sometimes ponder that myself, as I have achieved nearly every game mechanical objective there is, so what keep me playing?


”You can't win eRepublik”


What is different about eRepublik is that you can't win it. eRepublik is not like other strategy or board games in which you can win or lose in a traditional sense, so the objectives and the meaning of life here must have another point of view. If the game can't be won, you must alter your game-playing strategy and aims for the game, and the game itself must have a different meaning for you compared to other games. This also alters the meaning of eLife.

As achieving congress medals or country presidency are not lasting states of being but rather pinnacles of a career, they cannot be considered goals or the meaning of eLife as such. The key issue here is recognising that the medals or achievements as such mean nothing, it's the holistic plan and life that are the objectives which are sought after. Achieving presidency means a life and a career in politics, and those I dare to claim are the objectives in eRepublik.

Achieving a respected position in the game as a politician, soldier or an entrepreneur are the goals to be sought after, not just the medals or fancy titles. The medals and ranks as such mean nothing: Getting a Field Marshal's rank means you can do more damage, and the damage done is what matters, not the rank. You have done a lot to achieve the rank and merits brought with it, and that is what you actually look after. Achieving presidency means you have the power to rule over people, and it is the campaign manifesto, political objectives and your personal experience and know-how involved there that matter, not the medal or achievement of getting elected. To say it differently (someone else may have said the same earlier):

It's the journey, not the destination that matters.

In here, we can say to have achieved something, to have had a meaning, when we create something, do a deed, or experience something new and learn from it. The social interaction in eRepublik is an objective as such, as it is a way for us to meet new people and experience different cultures. eRepublik can also be played like a strategy game with real people instead of robot players, so achieving something in-game can be seen as a meaningful deed, which gives meaning for people's lives. In reverse, this is also one aspect that causes people to quit.


What makes me go on?

Despite saying that eRepublik should not be played as an objective-oriented game, one of the main motives why I continue playing is that I feel I haven't achieved everything. If the game had no objectives no whatsoever, no one would play. It is not enough to just have a forum to chat with people, to call this a game means it must have the characteristics of a game, and so forth goals which to seek after.

I know some people don't agree with me, but I see eRepublik as a social strategy game. In here we lead people and countries, build their economies, strengthen and supply armies, make tactical plans and try to attack and conquer other countries. To have participated in military campaigns against other countries and alliances, to have devised economic schemes which help country and its people prosper, the long-term projects are the ones that I remember and which keep me playing. Each of us has a place in the game and in the society, just like in real life, and all of us have distinct objectives and game-playing strategies which aim for different goals.

I've never liked to think single goals like achieving presidency in this game as the ultimate achievements, but rather I've considered the path of getting there as the goal. It is those paths into different offices and positions that matter to me, not the titles themselves. Starting from a simple soldier in the territorial army, or an ambassador to a foreign country, you can move on to become a newspaper writer, a squad leader, an apprentice to a ministry and finally a minister or a president and even an alliance-level correspondent, the path you choose defines the meaning of eLife for you. Not the single achievements, but the journey itself.

Too bad English is so limited language it can express this thought only this crudely. Still, if you liked, please vote and subscribe so I can finally get my MM medal and donate the gold for EDEN war fund.


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