What is your aim?

[wetroofwoof]

I'm curious what are the aims of civ-gamers. Or do you have an aim? is it worthwhile to formulate one? what does the process entail? can you have multiple aims?

I think these are all valid questions. last one: If you do have aim, how does civilization (the game) fit into this aim, or maybe it does not.

Here is a excerpt to set the tone.

Gurdjieff on Aim, as recounted to P.D. Ouspensky in “In Search of the Miraculous,” taken from the edition published by by Paul H. Crompton Ltd 2004, Pages 99-100.
For a more complete examination of the subject, refer to Chapter 6.

ONE of the next lectures began with a question asked by one of those present: What was the aim of his teaching?

“I certainly have an aim of my own,” said G. “But you must permit me to keep silent about it. At the present moment my aim cannot have any meaning for you, because it is important that you should define your own aim. The teaching by itself cannot pursue any definite aim. It can only show the best way for men to attain whatever aims they may have. The question of aim is a very important question. Until a man has defined his own aim for himself he will not be able even to begin ‘to do’ anything. How is it possible ‘to do’ anything without having an aim? Before anything else ‘doing’ presupposes an aim.”

“But the question of the aim of existence is one of the most difficult of philosophical questions,” said one of those present. “You want us to begin by solving this question. But perhaps we have come here because we are seeking an answer to this question. You expect us to have known it beforehand. If a man knows this, he really knows everything.”

“You misunderstood me,” said G. “I was not speaking of the philosophical significance of the aim of existence. Man does not know it and he cannot know it as long as he remains what he is, first of all, because there is not one but many aims of existence. On the contrary, attempts to answer this question using ordinary methods are utterly hopeless and useless. I was asking about an entirely different thing, I was asking about your personal aim, about what you want to attain, and not about the reason for your existence. Everyone must have his own aim: one man wants riches, another health, a third wants the kingdom of heaven, the fourth wants to be a general, and so on. It is about aims of this sort that I am asking. If you tell me what your aim is, I shall be able to tell you whether we are going along the same road or not.
“Think of how you formulated your own aim to yourselves before you came here.”
“I formulated my own aim quite clearly seven years ago,” I said. “I said to myself then that I want to know the future. Through a theoretical study of the question I came to the conclusion that the future can be known, and several times I was even successful in experiments in knowing the exact future. I concluded from this that we ought, and that we have a right, to know the future, and that until we do know it we shall not be able to organize our lives. A great deal was connected for me with this question. I considered, for instance, that a man can know, and has a right to know, exactly how much time is left to him, how much time he has at his disposal, or, in other words, he can and has a right to know the day and hour of his death. I always thought it humiliating for a man to live without knowing this and I decided at one time not to begin doing anything in any sense whatever until I did know it. For what is the good of beginning any kind of work when one doesn’t know whether one will have any time to finish it or not?”

“Very well,” said G., “to know the future is the first aim. Who else can formulate his aim?”
“I should like to be convinced that I shall go on existing after the death of the physical body, or, if this depends upon me, I should like to work in order to exist after death,” said one of the company.
“I don’t care whether I know the future or not, or whether I am certain or not certain of life after death,” said another, “if I remain what I am now. What I feel most strongly is that I am not master of myself, and if I were to formulate my aim, I should say that I want to be master of myself.”
“I should like to understand the teaching of Christ, and to be a Christian in the true sense of the term,” said the next.
“I should like to be able to help people,” said another. “I should like to know how to stop wars,” said another.

“Well, that’s enough,” said G., “we have now sufficient material to go on with. The best formulation of those that have been put forward is the wish to be one’s own master. Without this nothing else is possible and without this nothing else will have any value. But let us begin with the first question, or the first aim.

my aim is to self-develop. I have realized that there is many smaller aim which constitute this large aim. sometimes I should reevaluate them. here they are:
1.make a lot of money fast
2.make efforts on leadership skills and considering others
3.consider my family
4.everyday it is sunny and above 65 degrees and a weekday, go swimming in the ocean - until school.
5.understand assembly language and circuits.
6.recover data from my HD.

okay - 6 is my immediate aim at the moment... without this nothing can go on LOL. but I will not pay 2k dollars, so if in the end it's gone, I am okay. lots of these aims is interrelated, perhaps 4 is the most insignificant and apt to change. but my major aim is self-development, and what I believe this to mean. no need to get specific like I did-however you understand to have an aim.

 

[Integral]

My current aim is to make the next twelve to twenty-four months a period of rapid personal growth. Right now that means reading widely in my field, establishing a scholarly base from which to work with, building professional contacts, acing field comps next June, and improving my writing.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Not work

Live an exciting, adventurous life

 

[vypernight]

To get the $%#@ out of Florida within the next 5-10 years. We're aiming for MA.

 

[Disgustipated]

Money is worthless to me, I'd trade it all away to be with the woman I love. I can't be with the woman I love for various reasons I won't go into here. I do see her occasionally. The thing is, it terrifies me to think about living with the woman I love. Even though I want it, I've been single all my l life, and I'm not sure I can handle it. I'm a loner who wants to be with a woman. It makes no sense, but that is what it is.

Another reason I'm not sure I can handle it is I think I'm addicted to computer games, and I'm not sure I can give them up for her.

So to answer the question, I want love. I never got it as a kid, and most of my adult life. I have love now, but it isn't perfect.

So my answer is:
1. Experience love to the fullest.

 

[Dachs]

I'm curious what are the aims of civ-gamers. Or do you have an aim?

A little high and to the left.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

A little high and to the left.

Or in country music terms "The old iron sight shoots low and to the right so aim a little high and to the left"

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

My current aim is to not miss rent.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

A couple of, mostly, unrelated things.

1. Finish the process of getting this new job. Its a big hiring batch, so there's no way to really speed through the gauntlet, leaving me with a few months or so of my current job.
2. Take my friend out on a date, then shut up and start seeing her more.
3. Practice piano.
4. Study programming.
5. Find a new 1br apt and leave the rest of the world to burn.

I'd say the only difficult one is the programming.

 

[Glassfan]

2.make efforts on leadership skills and considering others
3.consider my family

Excellent

...Another reason I'm not sure I can handle (the woman I love) it is I think I'm addicted to computer games, and I'm not sure I can give them up for her.

Sad, very sad.

Myself, I screwed-up in college. I fell in love and exited my chosen career path. So my goals were mostly flushed down the toilet. But I'm reasonably happy now with a brilliant, beautiful daughter in pre-law (along with her student loans), plenty of books to read, and a good dog. More free time to waste playing Civ and fighting with Formaldehyde on the Forums.

 

[Synobun]

I aim to have as little to do with this species as realistically possible.

 

[downtown]

I aim to have as little to do with this species as realistically possible.

Then why spend time talking to them over the internet?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Money is worthless to me, I'd trade it all away to be with the woman I love. I can't be with the woman I love for various reasons I won't go into here. I do see her occasionally. The thing is, it terrifies me to think about living with the woman I love. Even though I want it, I've been single all my l life, and I'm not sure I can handle it. I'm a loner who wants to be with a woman. It makes no sense, but that is what it is.

Another reason I'm not sure I can handle it is I think I'm addicted to computer games, and I'm not sure I can give them up for her.

So to answer the question, I want love. I never got it as a kid, and most of my adult life. I have love now, but it isn't perfect.

So my answer is:
1. Experience love to the fullest.

Humans are family, dude. We love you, all of us. I think we just forget about it sometimes, or show it in really funny ways.

Perhaps you should look into help (and not necessarily outside help, you can do it yourself and perhaps for the better) with computer addiction. Its just as real as any other addiction, and its keeping you from coming out into the world with us and doing something with it.

Plus, this is the greatest MMO in history.

High resolution, only has to load once a day (For 8 hours, yes, but it comes with the chance to make your own mini-games. How cool is that?), and a very advanced crafting system (yes, the learning curve can be intense sometimes, but its very rewarding).

Occasionally you'll run into rendering issues, but these are usually announced whenever you check the weather. They call it fog for some reason.

Some of the mods are a little sketchy, and most seem fairly clueless, but in the average playthrough, they should stay in their own little worlds.

Also, permanent death. This frustrates a lot of users, but I like the added challenge.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

Humans are family, dude. We love you, all of us. I think we just forget about it sometimes, or show it in really funny ways.

Perhaps you should look into help (and not necessarily outside help, you can do it yourself and perhaps for the better) with computer addiction. Its just as real as any other addiction, and its keeping you from coming out into the world with us and doing something with it.

Plus, this is the greatest MMO in history.

High resolution, only has to load once a day (For 8 hours, yes, but it comes with the chance to make your own mini-games. How cool is that?), and a very advanced crafting system (yes, the learning curve can be intense sometimes, but its very rewarding).

Occasionally you'll run into rendering issues, but these are usually announced whenever you check the weather. They call it fog for some reason.

Some of the mods are a little sketchy, and most seem fairly clueless, but in the average playthrough, they should stay in their own little worlds.

Also, permanent death. This frustrates a lot of users, but I like the added challenge.

1. I think your system's slow, I can load in as little as four hours.
2. If it's the greatest MMO ever, why do people spend so much time and money to escape it?
3. I totally agree with Disgustipated, computer addiction is probably the biggest threat to my life right now. Especially internet addiction.

Hi, my name is IdiotsOpposite and I'm an internet addict.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

1. I think your system's slow, I can load in as little as four hours.
2. If it's the greatest MMO ever, why do people spend so much time and money to escape it?
3. I totally agree with Disgustipated, computer addiction is probably the biggest threat to my life right now. Especially internet addiction.

Hi, my name is IdiotsOpposite and I'm an internet addict.

1. I've got a few things running in the background, so that's probably a part of it.
2. Because people think they can escape it.
3. I'm going to throw a blind dart and say you're browsing reddit right now.

If you need me, I'll be there

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I want to be the first university professor who works out and wears flashy sneakers.
I would also like to save the world, but I am too afraid that this leaves me with nothing but frustration and self-righteous contempt for others, while the world runs its course as it pleases to. Which gives me reason to think that the troubles of the world are most of all structural and there is being a professor helpful again.
But nevertheless I at times struggle a lot with the conflict of self-interest and my personal idealism. I can be pretty easy to loose my self in said self-interests and emotionally flourish in it, but at times that also can be so empty and it keeps conflicting with the identity I (want to) see in myself.

 

[warpus]

My aims for the next couple months:

1. Finish remodelling my basement and rent it out to a cute asian graduate student for the fall term
2. Finally put together that shed in my backyard
3. Build a small garden beside the shed where I can grow tomatoes, peppers, etc.
4. Figure out if I'm going to Scotland in October
5. Paint my kitchen
6. Finish healing my left foot (messed it up in Peru, it still hurts) and start being active again

For a longer-term aim.. I need to figure out what my next vacation/expedition is going to be and how I'm going to pay for it

 

[downtown]

My short term goals include:

1) Losing 8 more pounds. I think my fightin' weight is around 175, and I'm at 183. I've already lost 7 pounds over the last two months...I think I can get there by the end of the summer.

2) To transition out of recruiting and back to writing/blogging full time. I turned down a full time job at a local magazine out of college to stupidly go to New Orleans to teach. I've spent the last 2 years working as a recruiter, which is fine, but I'd love to go back to doing what I'm really good at...writing, ideally, about sports. I write for 2 fairly well known websites right now, and get paid for it...but I'm hoping by next year, I can make it my full time gig.

3) Pay off my first student loan by the end of the summer. After that, only 10,000 left to go!

 

[Core Imposter]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

My aim is to share the good news of Jesus. I have no higher goal nor desire than that. My flesh is often troubled by all the temptations of this world, and I fall for those temptations continuously. This is the nature of the physical world. But God is always with me, to reproach me, to comfort me and guide me.

God would give you peace. Amen.

 

[Joecoolyo]

1) Lose weight once I get access (as well as time) to a nice gym at uni

2) Get great grades first year of college of Iowa so I can transfer out to a cheaper/better school (this isn't much of an aim as it is a must, Iowa is way too expensive to keep going to)

3) Find a job and make bank eventually, maybe an internship if possible

4) Upgrade gaming rig since mine's getting kind of old

5) Rule the world