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The term 'non-player character', to my knowledge, originated in the MUDs of the 80s and 90s. Colloquially referred to as 'NPC', it referred to the automated / scripted characters that are found in these games. They are only capable of speaking and acting in the exact way that they were programmed or scripted by their designers, the game programmers and/or world builders. This is obviously in comparison to the player characters encountered in the world, controlled by humans on the other end of the keyboard.
In the modern day, these NPCs have carried over into visual video games, and have, or will, presumably, carry over into the so-called 'metaverse'. I won't get into my thoughts on the metaverse in this post (that would be deserving of a dedicated post), but suffice it to say I hope that that technology is an utter failure.
You might think I've returned to development of my MUD and am speaking on its progress.
Nope.
To the chagrin of many, NPCs also have entered into the real world. No, no, I am not talking about robots or artificial intelligence. I am talking about real humans. See, many (read: most) people, are demonstrably only capable of thinking, saying or doing exactly as they are programmed.
Now, I can guess what many of you are thinking: human NPCs? What is Ainent talking about?
If that is you, then you are the target audience of this post. Please, hear me out.
If that is not you, then you can probably guess exactly where I am going with this.
How are people programmed? Propaganda. It is a powerful, effective tool of tyrants, and has been for centuries. Historically, this was often done by pamphlets, books or, in extreme cases, 're-education'.
Today though, it is more simple. Most people will simply turn on the nightly news or a midday press conference, or scroll mindlessly through social media feeds. Here they are bombarded with propaganda to consume more, to trust and never question authority. If you disagree, they eat you immediately, either through outright censorship (backed up by independent 'fact checkers' -- who are incidentally paid by the same people who cite them as 'trustworthy', kind of like a doctor speaking on behalf of a tobacco company boldly proclaiming the miraculous health benefits of smoking -- of course and why not? It is for your own good, everyone knows that.) or simple social pressure that loathes, and desires to expunge from society, independent thought.
In a technocratic dystopia where the Zucks and Dorseys of the world have more power than an entire damn government, independent thought is not only abhorrent, it is downright dangerous! These deadly words spoken by the silly non-conformists are literally weapons!
In case you missed it, that was sarcasm.
It is making America into China.
That, however, was not sarcasm, and it is quite depressing.
This is case and point why people switch to a brand new, all-encompassing issue over which to obsess, quite literally, overnight. You know the issue. Everyone is talking about it. All the talking heads in the media, politicians, celebrities, etc. If you read this on the day of publication, 2022-03-04, it is one thing. If you find this six months, a year, whatever, later, you'll know the issue as well. And no matter what it happens to be from one week to the next, the message is the same: people are divided, arguing and hating each other. Nevermind the fact that it is the media and the government stoking this division in the first place, all in an (successful, sadly) attempt to distract from the fact that they are the ones who created the problem in the first place. Otherwise they would have nothing to save you from, and no wars to fight, which is unthinkable to the sociopaths who run the asylum.
This results in one universal constant: if the mainstream media are repeating it ad nauseam, you can rest assured that one or more of the following is present:
And the NPCs just eat it up without question. Fear this! Hate them! YOU MUST OBEY!
In short, regain your independent thought faculties simply by shutting off the mainstream media. Instead, focus on what makes you happy: family, friends, hobbies, etc.