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Is Life a Story or a Game?
I’m a liberal arts type, so I see life as a story. Each person is born into a family. Over the course of life, we find things to love and commit to — a vocation, a spouse, a community. At times, we flounder and suffer but do our best to learn from our misfortunes to grow in wisdom, kindness and grace. At the end, hopefully, we can look back and see how we have nurtured deep relationships and served a higher good.
Will Storr, a writer whose work I admire enormously, says this story version of life is an illusion. In his book “The Status Game,” he argues that human beings are deeply driven by status. Status isn’t about being liked or accepted; it’s about being better than others. Even when we are trying to do good, Storr asserts, we’re playing the “virtue game,” to show we are morally superior to others.
I think Storr is in danger of becoming one of those guys who give short shrift to the loftier desires of the human heart, to the caring element in every friendship and family, and then says, in effect, we have to be man enough to face how unpleasant we are.
But I have to admit, the gamer mentality he describes pervades our culture right now. Social media, of course, is a status game par excellence, with its likes, its viral rankings and its periodic cancel mobs.
The status-mad world that Storr describes is so loveless — a world I recognize but not one I want to live in. Ultimately, games are fun, but gaming as a way of life is immature. Maturity means rising above the shallow desire — for status — that doesn’t really nourish us. It’s about cultivating the higher desires: The love of truth and learning and not settling for cheap conspiracy theories. The intrinsic pleasure the craftsman gets in his work, which is not about popularity. The desire for a good and meaningful life that inspires people to commit daily acts of generosity.
How do people gradually learn to cultivate these higher motivations? To answer that, I’d have to tell you a story.
讲解
万物皆“卷”的时代，我们还要谈理想吗？
如今这个什么都能“卷”的时代，我们在生活中处处面临竞争的压力。心理学上将人格特征分为A型和B型，A型人紧迫感强，具有强烈的竞争心和攻击性，B型人则恰好相反。如今整个社会的发展趋势似乎都在推动A型行为的增加。当人生被比作一场“升级打怪”、成王败寇的残酷游戏，我们从中获得了什么，又丢失了什么？读完今天这篇文章，也许你会在只属于自己的人生故事中找到答案。一起来听今天的讲解。
Is Life a Story or a Game?
人生是一个故事，还是一场游戏？
I’m a liberal arts type, so I see life as a story. Each person is born into a family. Over the course of life, we find things to love and commit to — a vocation, a spouse, a community. At times, we flounder and suffer but do our best to learn from our misfortunes to grow in wisdom, kindness and grace. At the end, hopefully, we can look back and see how we have nurtured deep relationships and served a higher good.
我是热爱人文艺术的那类人，因此我把人生看作故事。每个人从家庭诞生，并在生命的漫漫历程中寻找到值得热爱和投入的事 —— 一份职业，一个配偶，一个社群。有时我们会陷入困境和痛苦，但又会尽全力从不幸中吸取教训，变得更加智慧、善良和从容。直至尽头再回首，但愿我们能够见证自己这一路来如何建立起深厚的关系链接、服务于超越自身的更高使命。
Will Storr, a writer whose work I admire enormously, says this story version of life is an illusion. In his book “The Status Game,” he argues that human beings are deeply driven by status. Status isn’t about being liked or accepted; it’s about being better than others. Even when we are trying to do good, Storr asserts, we’re playing the “virtue game,” to show we are morally superior to others.
威尔·斯托尔（Will Storr）是我极为钦佩的作家，他表示这种将人生看作故事的视角不过是一种幻觉。在名为《地位游戏》（“The Status Game”）的一书中，他指出：人类深受身份地位的驱使。地位无关于受到喜爱或接纳；只取决于比他人更优越。斯托尔认为，即使我们试图行善，实则也是在玩一种“美德游戏”，以示我们在道德上高人一等。
I think Storr is in danger of becoming one of those guys who give short shrift to the loftier desires of the human heart, to the caring element in every friendship and family, and then says, in effect, we have to be man enough to face how unpleasant we are.
我想斯托尔可能会变成那样一类人：他们对人们内心的崇高理想和友情亲情中的关爱关怀不屑一顾，同时声称我们需要变得足够强悍去面对自己令人讨厌的现实。
But I have to admit, the gamer mentality he describes pervades our culture right now. Social media, of course, is a status game par excellence, with its likes, its viral rankings and its periodic cancel mobs.
但我不得不承认，斯托尔所描述的玩家心态目前正在渗透我们的文化。毋庸置疑，依靠点赞、热搜排名和定期的集体抵制行为，社交媒体成为了地位游戏的卓越代表。
The status-mad world that Storr describes is so loveless — a world I recognize but not one I want to live in. Ultimately, games are fun, but gaming as a way of life is immature. Maturity means rising above the shallow desire — for status — that doesn’t really nourish us. It’s about cultivating the higher desires: The love of truth and learning and not settling for cheap conspiracy theories. The intrinsic pleasure the craftsman gets in his work, which is not about popularity. The desire for a good and meaningful life that inspires people to commit daily acts of generosity.
斯托尔所描绘的这个疯狂追求地位的世界是如此冷漠 —— 尽管我认识这样的世界，但我却不想生活其中。游戏终归有趣，但将生活看作游戏却是幼稚的。成熟意味着超越那种肤浅的、无法真正滋养我们的（对地位的）渴求。这是陶冶更高理想的过程：对真理和求知满腔热爱，而非满足于廉价的阴谋论；如匠人般在工作中获得内在的愉悦，而非基于人气；对美好而富有意义的生活充满渴望，从而激励人们日行慷慨之举。
How do people gradually learn to cultivate these higher motivations? To answer that, I’d have to tell you a story.
人们是如何逐渐学会培养这些更高层次的动机的？要回答这个问题，我就得通过故事来告诉你。
内容拓展
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在《大问题：简明哲学导论》（The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy）一书中，作者罗伯特·所罗门总结了人们定义人生意义的一些通用框架。其中就包含了本文标题中所说的“故事”和“游戏”这两种：有人把人生当作一个故事或者一段旅程，有人则把人生视作一场游戏甚至一场竞赛。这也代表了两种截然不同的人生态度。
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“Liberal”一词来源于拉丁文。最早的liberal arts education只提供给社会上流人士。那时，上流社会才是真正的freeman——所谓的“自由民”，而非奴隶；liberal一词就由此而来。与之相对的，社会底层民众接受的训练叫做servile arts，泛指那些机械的、体力劳动的训练。
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原文中提到的《地位游戏》（The Status Game）：由英国记者和作家威尔·斯托尔（Will Storr）撰写，对人类心理进行了全面反思，对社会中无处不在的地位与权力关系进行了深入的分析与审视。
生词好句
1.liberal arts
现代语境中，可以狭义地理解为“人文学科”或“文科”；而就源头含义来讲，也包含一些抽象科学（abstract science），比如逻辑、几何等。
拓展:
liberal arts education 通识教育
liberal arts college 文理学院
servant n. 仆人
servile adj. 奴隶的、卑贱的、底层的
servile arts 机械的体力劳动训练（与liberal arts相对)
2.type
英 [taɪp] 美 [taɪp]
n. 类型
拓展:
I am a…type.
我是一个…样的人。
3.born into a family
出生在一个家庭当中（“into”体现出被动的命运感）
4.commit to something
致力于…（promise to give one’s time and energy to something）
拓展:
The two countries have committed to actively improving their relations in the coming years.
这两个国家承诺在接下来的几年，将致力于积极改善两国的关系。
5.vocation
英 [vəʊˈkeɪʃn] 美 [voʊˈkeɪʃn]
n. （本文）职业；神召（divine call）
拓展:
vacation n. 假期
6.flounder
英 [ˈflaʊndə] 美 [ˈflaʊndər]
v. 挣扎；不知所措；（本文）陷入困境（struggle to obtain footing）
7.grow in something
在……方面得到成长
拓展:
grow something 种植…
8.grace
英 [ɡreɪs] 美 [ɡreɪs]
n. 优雅；（本文）从容（ease and suppleness）
9.nurture
英 [ˈnɜːtʃə] 美 [ˈnɜrːtʃər]
v. 养育；（本文）培养
拓展:
nurture a baby 养育一个宝宝
nurture deep relationships 培养深刻的关系
nurture a friendship 培养一段友谊
nurture trust 培养信任
nurture good habits 培养好习惯
10.serve a higher good
追求更崇高的价值（serve a greater good）
拓展:
good n. 好的事情；好处
for your own good 为了你好
serve the cause of something 服务于、奉献于某项事业
She has served the cause of rural education her whole life.
她终身都奉献给了乡村教育事业。
11.argue
英 [ˈɑːɡjuː] 美 [ˈɑːrɡjuː]
v. 阐明（某个观点）
拓展:
呈现某人观点时，可以说"somebody argues that … "
12.be driven by something
由……所驱动
拓展:
The car is driven by electricity.
这辆车是电力驱动。
At work, some people are driven by income, while some are driven by excellence.
在工作中，大家的动力不一样，有的人受收入驱动，有的人则出于追求卓越。
13.assert
英 [əˈsɜːt] 美 [əˈsɜrːt]
v. 断言，主张
拓展:
辨析：assert vs. argue
区别：在感情色彩上，assert比argue更强势，表示坚定地表达自己的某种主张。
14.morally superior to someone
在道德上比别人更优越
拓展:
moral superiority 道德优越感
15.give short shrift to
漠视，忽略（give no attention or consideration to）
16.lofty
英 [ˈlɒfti] 美 [ˈlɑːfti]
adj. 高的
拓展:
loft n. 带跃层的房子
17.in effect
实际上（in fact）
18.man enough
有足够勇气，足够强悍
19.pervade
英 [pəˈveɪd] 美 [pərˈveɪd]
v. 弥漫，渗透（become diffused throughout every part of something）
拓展:
As Christmas approaches, a festive atmosphere starts to pervade the city of London.
随着圣诞临近，一股节日的气氛开始弥漫在整个伦敦城。
20.par excellence
卓越的，最佳的（being the best of a kind）
拓展:
Wow, this has to be the work of a chef par excellence.
只有最好的厨子才能做得出这样的美味。
21.cancel mob
在网络上发起集体抵制行为的一群人
拓展:
取消文化（cancel culture），即网上时不时出现的，集体抵制某个网络名人的现象。
22.rise above something
不让自己被某事物所伤害或裹挟（not allow oneself to be hurt or controlled by something）
拓展:
rise above temptation 摆脱诱惑
rise above greed 从贪婪中开脱
23.cultivate
英 [ˈkʌltɪveɪt] 美 [ˈkʌltəveɪt]
v. 培养（nurture）
拓展:
cultivate friendship 培养友谊
cultivate trust 培养信任
24.settle for something
妥协于…；勉强接受…
外刊原文
Is Life a Story or a Game?
I’m a liberal arts type, so I see life as a story. Each person is born into a family. Over the course of life, we find things to love and commit to — a vocation, a spouse, a community. At times, we flounder and suffer but do our best to learn from our misfortunes to grow in wisdom, kindness and grace. At the end, hopefully, we can look back and see how we have nurtured deep relationships and served a higher good.
Will Storr, a writer whose work I admire enormously, says this story version of life is an illusion. In his book “The Status Game,” he argues that human beings are deeply driven by status. Status isn’t about being liked or accepted, he writes; it’s about being better than others, getting more: “When people defer to us, offer respect, admiration or praise or allow us to influence them in some way, that’s status. It feels good.”
High-status people are healthier, get to talk more, have more relaxed postures, get admired by their social inferiors and have a sense of purpose, Storr argues. That’s what we’re really after. The stories we tell ourselves, that we are heroes on journeys toward the true, the good and the beautiful — those are just lies the mind invents to help us feel good about ourselves.
Life is a series of games, he continues. There’s the high school game of competing to be the popular kid. The lawyer game to make partner. The finance game to make the most money. The academic game for prestige. The sports game to show that our team is best. Even when we are trying to do good, Storr asserts, we’re playing the “virtue game,” to show we are morally superior to others.
The desire for status is a “mother motivation,” and the hunger for status is never satisfied.
I think Storr has been seduced by evolutionary psych fundamentalism. He is in danger of becoming one of those guys who give short shrift to the loftier desires of the human heart, to the caring element in every friendship and family, and then says, in effect, we have to be man enough to face how unpleasant we are.
But I have to admit, the gamer mentality he describes pervades our culture right now. Social media, of course, is a status game par excellence, with its likes, its viral rankings and its periodic cancel mobs. Vast partisan armies fight wars of recognition.
American politics, too, has become more a war for status than a way for a society to figure out how to allocate its resources. Donald Trump’s career is not mostly about policies; it’s mostly about: They look down on you. I will make them pay.
Foreign policy sometimes looks like a status game with Vladimir Putin and his humiliation stories: The world does not see and respect us; we must strike back.
In an essay called “The World as a Game,” in the invaluable Liberties journal, Justin E.H. Smith points out that social credit systems literally turn citizenship into a game, awarding points or penalties depending on how people behave.
One of the features of the gaming mentality is that it turns life into a performance. If what you mostly want is status, why not create a fake persona that will win it for you? Some of the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were dressed like they were from some blockbuster movie or a video game.
People who see themselves playing a game often get lost in the make-believe world of the game and depart from the messiness of reality. In an essay called “Reality Is Just a Game Now,” in the equally invaluable New Atlantis magazine, Jon Askonas notes how much being active in the QAnon movement is like playing an alternate reality game.
QAnon players “research” through obscure forums and videos, searching for clues that will support their conspiracy theories. They show up at Trump rallies carrying signs with phrases that only other players will recognize.
Askonas writes: “For devoted players, status accrues to finding clues and providing compelling interpretations, while others can casually follow along with the story as the community reveals it. It is this collaboration — a kind of social sense-making — that builds the alternate reality in the minds of players.” He concludes that the role-playing game is to our century what the novel was to the 18th century, a new mode of experience and self-creation.
The status-mad world that Storr describes is so loveless — a world I recognize but not one I want to live in. Ultimately, games are fun, but gaming as a way of life is immature. Maturity means rising above the shallow desire — for status — that doesn’t really nourish us. It’s about cultivating the higher desires: The love of truth and learning and not settling for cheap conspiracy theories. The intrinsic pleasure the craftsman gets in his work, which is not about popularity. The desire for a good and meaningful life that inspires people to commit daily acts of generosity.
How do people gradually learn to cultivate these higher motivations? To answer that, I’d have to tell you a story.