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Are you an NPC?

Most gamers will know that the term "NPC" stands for Non-Player Character - a non-controllable character that goes about its business based on instructions coded by the programmer. NPC's may interact with the main player or simply fulfill their role of making a street look busy.

Let's take an example of how a particular NPC behaves in a popular open-world simulation.

Each NPC is programmed with two sets of instructions (Default and Behavioral) that it follows without question for the duration of its life in the game. Behavioral Instructions define the NPC's behavior, while Default Instructions define what the NPC does. An example of Default Instructions are:-

Take out a loan to study at university for 3 years to increase chances (with no guarantee) of getting a decent paying job after graduating.
After graduating, get a job to pay off the university loan and start paying income tax.
Climb the corporate ladder.
Take out a 30-year mortgage to buy a house.
Engage in consumerism (buy stuff).
Continue working to pay house bills, mortgage, property tax, credit card bills, and interest.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 until the age of 65.
Retire at the age of 65 and live off pension.
Game over.

The following Behavioral Instructions ensures that an NPC carries out its set of Default Instructions:-

Stay alive for as long as possible - don't take risks.
Care about what others think - buy, do and behave like others.

The Default Instructions and the Behavioral Instructions rely on each other, making it difficult for the NPC to do otherwise.

Sometimes you would see an NPC stuck halfway in a wall because the programmer didn't write instructions for such a scenario - also known as a Glitched NPC.

The Glitched NPC can now see beyond the wall and outside the play area boundary - but they are still stuck.

You may recognize this open-world simulation as the reality we live in - also known as the Default Dimension.

Behavioral Instructions were coded into our DNA over time as humans evolved to be risk-averse. Risking staying put to see if that rustle in the bush was a Saber-toothed Tiger meant that it was too late and that the human became a manwhich (Zombieland reference).

On the other hand, Default Instructions are passed on by society, meaning that we can change what is taught to the next generation.

I too was an NPC stuck in a wall glitching in and out of this dimension. I followed the Default Instructions and bought a house on a 35-year mortgage while climbing the corporate ladder at Amazon and Microsoft.

When I went home after work, I could do the things I liked, such as starting up a blog and working on my side gig of coding websites for my clients.

Most of my waking hours were spent working in corporate life, but I knew that I had to spend most of my time on my own gig instead.

The dilemma was that my corporate job brought in most of the money needed to pay the mortgage and support our lives - welcome to stuck NPC syndrome.

What If?

What enabled me to get unstuck was a single reoccurring thought - "What If?"

Even if I followed the "Stay alive for as long as possible - don't take risks" instructions - there are circumstances beyond my control that could make it game over for me any day. Do you think the folks who died on the news tonight planned an early exit?

They say that life flashes before your eyes just before you die. I didn't want my flashback to contain a load of "what if" regrets, so I tend to take whatever risks necessary to find out - after all - Game Over could be just around the corner.

The "What If" question led me to Japan, which led me to start my company Mirai, which led to the creation of Smart Doll.

So why would I still consider myself a stuck NPC? Because the simulation is not stupid and has Backup Instructions prepared for NPC's who manage to escape beyond the boundaries of the Default Dimension...

The Simulations Backup Plan

As a business owner, while I don't follow the Default Instructions, I now follow the Backup Instructions which ironically puts me in a position where I am the one paying my team members to follow the Default Instructions.

I escaped the Default Dimension to find the answer to "What If" and know that I should not tie my team members down expecting them to fulfill my dreams. I must consider the dreams of my team members too.

I mentioned that the Default Instructions are passed on by society and that we can change what is taught to the next generation.

As such, Smart Doll has become a platform where team members are expected to leave and set up their own business one day. The team is encouraged and mentored to set up a sole proprietorship and start a side gig - and many of them have already done so.

Members who are close to leaving the nest are mentored on many aspects on running a business. A few that have left the nest now run their own gig with us as one of their clients.

I have also been reducing work hours but still paying full-time wages and eventually want us to be on a 4 day work week. Why ask team members to work 5 days when we can still achieve the same goals and sales within fewer working days?

I will continue using Smart Doll as a platform to experiment with new ways to work outside the Default Dimension. I don't have all the answers now but Dimension is a reminder to never stop asking "What If?"

Dimension Story

I started researching and writing Dimension's story since last Autumn and slowly realized I had written enough for a book.

Her original message was going to be about what fascinates me regarding how we perceive reality and the dimension we live in. I won't go into depth now but you can use the following keywords to research a fascinating new subject.

"Copenhagen Interpretation" "Schrödinger's cat" "Double Slit Experiment" "Quantum Eraser Experiment" "Simulation hypothesis"

Who is Dimension?

"Because you only start to live when you discover what reality really is."

Dimension is a Particle Physicist working at CERN on ATLAS - one of the 4 major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

She took an interest in discovering new dimensions, which lead her to a career in Particle Physics.

Complete Cast