Never ending stories

In what we call ‘2015’ problems exist that no one expected. Yes the planets dying. Yes us humans will probably destroy ourselves arguing about what put us here and how exactly we should forgive each other but we knew that. I’m talking about surprise problems like spotty wi-fi, overly milky tea, and too much choice.

Big problems like Nostradamus’s Armageddon we can expect. In fact a much bolder statement from the old ‘Debbie Downer ‘ would have been: ‘I believe we’ll be alright, living on Mars’. Our Small problems however cannot be shared for fear of ridicule or someone mentioning ‘First world problems’, entitlement, or that we should take our crown off if we want to be taken seriously.

Never the less small problems plague our lives, if the plague was a little one that gave us lots of options on how to watch new exclusive dramas.

Abundant choice, often across a multitude of paywalled platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky) means we have to accept we simply cannot see everything. Shared experiences around the water cooler (or fluid container of your choice) are less likely and seeing all your football teams broadcast games requires your own satellite, a team of hackers, and some really good biscuits.

At times new technology is romanced as the birth of connivence: a way to master our lives and make excellent toast. Now, fellow flesh bags, we have to accept technology is to make big business money. No longer is it about the dream of worlds at your finger tips, but worlds offered for your cash. It means an ideological shift is necessary like a My Little Pony collector realising he’ll never move on with his life because they keep making the things for him and his bearded friends.

We (I) have to realise the more we buy into digital games, services, and things (future proofing here) the more money swells in that direction and the more business appear to collect it.

Capitalism is the enemy of ‘completionisim’ because completing something means you can put away your wallet and think about what you’re going to do with all these My Little Ponys’.

The sad thing is completing something is a satisfying feeling, one that is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in our modern world where for example: one of the biggest TV show is based on a book series which isn’t finished because the authors too busy being interviewed about the program.

Our options have never been so vast from hardbacks to digital books, from film to YouTube, from Steam to Origin? and as such we have to let go of completing things. Give up on seeing it all and instead be content with finishing a game, even if it never finishes itself.