NPC's - Non-Playing Characters

Since eternity, video games have had NPC’s – Non-Playing Characters. It refers to the characters in the game whose behavior is entirely computer determined. Like that dragon in the game. Or the enemy soldier. You get the idea.

 

Increasingly, the term is being used to refer to real world humans in the real world, writes Gurwinder:

“Naturally, everyone believes that their political opponents are NPCs.”

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All of us are NPC’s. Why? Because, as is often the case, evolution.

“Cognition costs time and calories, which in our evolutionary history were scant resources. As such, the brain evolved to be a “cognitive miser” that operates according to the principle of least effort, taking shortcuts in thinking and perceiving that build a workable but hugely simplified (and cost effective) model of the world.”

Gurwinder then gets into the various categories of real world NPC’s.

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NPC #1: The Conformist. They accept mainstream views on most topics. This approach doesn’t make sense in matters involving people or social issues.

“Since everyone is different, the probability of every single person happening to agree on one belief is tiny unless some irrational force, such as laziness or social pressure, is making them agree. In other words, the more people agree, the less likely they are thinking for themselves.”

 

Besides, the sources that the Conformist trusts have their flaws. At times, experts have “bad motivations”. Like academics needing to publish papers. Money is often a factor. The media focusses on whatever sells. Plus, of course, there is bias, both deliberate and unconscious.

 

The conformist is confident he is not an NPC – he is relying on the experts, isn’t he? How can everyone in the mainstream possibly be wrong?

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NPC #2: The Contrarian. They are the opposite of the Conformist. They assume everything mainstream is a means to control and manipulate society, to preserve the existing power structure.

 

They often start by finding genuine flaws, errors and biases in some part of the mainstream view. They then over-compensate by going to the other extreme that nothing in the mainstream should be trusted. It can end in conspiracy theories.

 

The Contrarian believes he is more analytical than the Conformist. Didn’t he evaluate and find flaws in the mainstream view? But he forgets something:

“Contrarians are correct that the mainstream consensus is often wrong. But they commit an error when they assume, therefore, that the fringes must be right. Truth is not zero-sum; it’s possible to disagree with an idiot and still be an idiot.”

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NPC #3: The Disciple. It is human nature to want to believe in something. If you can’t believe in the mainstream, just believing in the opposite of the mainstream isn’t satisfying. The need for a positive belief becomes unbearable.

 

Therefore, the Disciple comes into existence. This has been a popular option throughout history – becoming a disciple of the sage, the king, the prophet:

“Being a disciple is an attractive shortcut to “truth” because it requires no decision-making, only mimicry. Emulating a person is much easier than embodying an idea.”

 

The danger, in idolizing and emulating one leader (spiritual, political, any other category) is that one is blinded to their flaws and errors.

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NPC #4: The Tribalist: These are people coming together as a group. Strength in numbers. Quickly, the view changes to:

“We’re fighting a battle of good versus evil, and, of course, we’re the good guys.”

Tribes are less about in-group cohesion and more about external threats. If there are no enemies, invent them. Blame all problems on the outsiders. Don’t trust any information from outside one’s own sources.

 

One can see the overlap with the Conformist – my whole tribe believes this, can they all be wrong? By definition, this NPC is least suited for a debate:

“Instead of seeking to understand the true causes of complex social problems, leftists will simply blame rightists, and vice versa. And if the two sides decide to discuss the issue, they’ll approach the debate like sports fans, cheering on their team.”

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NPC #5: The Averager: They believe if there are diametrically opposing views on a topic, then the middle ground must be the right choice – that the two opposing views are extreme and thus wrong. Like all the other groups, they believe they are analytical, that they don’t accept extreme views.

 

While that may be the correct stance on some topics, surely every topic doesn’t fall in the middle-ground-must-be-correct category. And often, the Averager hasn’t analyzed either end of the spectrum to identify the flaws. They just always go with the middle.

“The path of the averager is therefore a shortcut not to truth but to the murky middle-ground between truth and lies.”

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Back to Gurwinder’s point. Everyone is an NPC. But yes, we may be a different kind of NPC on different topics. An Averager on some, a Conformist on others. But ultimately, he say, we are all NPC’s on most topics. Why?

“Everyone is an NPC on at least some topics they opine on, because there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to have an informed opinion on most of the issues we talk about.”