Ping

 

(Note: if you want to skip the Battlefield 3 introduction, just skip down about five paragraphs.)

The other night, I was gaming with some buddies and we began to discuss some of the more technical aspects of the video game.  When we play Battlefield 3, we each are given a ping.  Basically, ping is a measurement of the time it takes for a packet of data to contact the server we're using, and is generally measured in milliseconds.   On the server I own and run, my ping is usually around 15.  That means it takes .015 seconds for my commands on the PC to reach the server.  I have a friend who lives in Chicago, where the server is based, and he has a ping of 2.

Anyway, in Battlefield 3, there are millions of packets of data being exchanged between the individual player, the server, and then synchronized with other players on the server, all within seconds.  My friend described it as an incomprehensible amount of information going back and forth, and the human mind couldn't handle that kind of calculation.

Something simple like firing a bullet out of a gun is sent to the server, then sent to each of the other players.  Sometimes, depending on ping, that information is registered on the individual gamers' machines late, and then you get a little lag.  Imagine actions such as flying a jet at 800 miles per hour, firing guided rockets at the guy you're tailing, and setting off flares to cut off the missile locks from the anti-air tank on the ground.  The information exchange and the dependency it has on each player's connection is too much to really take in, I think.

We talked at length about how there is practically an unlimited amount of possibilities in the game because of this.  No round will be identical to another.  They're unique.  And there are just so many different variables in the server.  A player's high ping can have an effect on other players who are connected to the same server (which is why we try to kick out people with 250+ pings).  There are thousands of different combinations of primary weapons, sidearms, equipment and perks.  With all the data being exchanged and variables amid that, glitches sometimes take place.

For example, sometimes when a player is sprinting in game, he'll just slingshot across the map, hit a wall, and die.  I haven't really found any patterns to this, and it hardly ever happens, but it's apparently completely random.

Anyway, in the middle of this nerdy conversation, I had a random thought.  This made me think about life.  And you're asking: "What the heck does a video game have to do with life?"

In life, there are infinitely more variables than the ones in Battlefield 3.  There are an endless amount of possibilities.  Besides picking what map I'm playing, what camo I'm wearing, or what firearms I'm packing, in real life I have choices over so much more.  This might seem silly, but stay with me and you'll see where I'm going.

I remember the Denver-San Diego game during like week 5 of the 2012 season.  The Broncos were down 0-24 by the end of the first half and came back to win 35-24.  That game can never be imitated.  Some teams might get the same amount of points.  The teams could even meet again and the same players can score, but it will never be a perfect imitation.

I guess what I'm saying is that every experience you have is unique.  No one sees it quite the way you see it, and no one can remake the past.

So the train of thought just kept rolling and then I thought about some of my friends, my girlfriend... practically everyone I know.  If I were to take each of them, clone them, and try to have the same relationship I have with the clones as I do with the original person, it just wouldn't be the same.  The fact of the matter is that just as every moment and experience is unique, so is each person.  This is because of all the variables and possibilities.  An experience is a combination of the a set of variables and only one of those possibilities.  (Generally speaking, two outcomes cannot both take place at the same time.  For example, if there is one distinctly red ball, and one distinctly blue ball, and I'm suppose to pick one or the other, I can't pick both.  Only one will be picked.)  Maybe this doesn't make sense.  That's alright.  


Some people might have similar appearances.  Some people might even have the same likes, dislikes, favorites, etc, but they still won't ever be the same.

And these two thoughts just fit so perfectly.  I've heard it worded before that we're the sum of all our experiences of memories... if each experience and memory is unique, and we're the sum of it all, then we are therefore unique because of that.

Just like in Battlefield 3, there are all these factors and possibilities... the round is always unique because of this.  Maybe you don't get it.  Oh well.

Amazing what philosophical thoughts you can get from a video game, huh?

You might already know this.  Duh.  Of course we're unique.  What a waste of a 1000 words on something like this.

But just in case... just in case you weren't aware...

You are unique.  There is no one like you.  Someone might have the same kind of eyes like you.  Maybe the same skin color, height, or nose shape.  Someone might have the same favorite foods or you might like the same kind of music... but you are still unique.  You are different.  And yes, this is a good thing.

At work today, Cars 2 or whatever was on.  Lightning was talking to an Italian car about Mater and how he'd pushed him away for being too goofy.  This might not be word for word, but the Italian car dude asked him, "If you're such good friends with him, why are you asking him to be someone he isn't?"

So, same goes to you.  Be you.

Of course, before I end this one, I gotta end with a quote from the Walking Dead.  At the end of season 1, a doctor was going on about the disease, but some cool things were said when he was explaining the human mind.  On a screen, everyone saw the brain, and all the lights and signals fluttering around.

"What are those lights?" someone asked.

The doctor replied: "It's a person's life.  Experiences, memories... it's everything.  Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you.  The thing that makes you unique.  And human.  Those are synapses; electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages.  They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

We're so unique, and I think it's truly a beautiful thing and a blessing.  Don't be afraid to be you, and encourage others to do the same.   So, thanks for reading.  I'm going to get back to playing some more Battlefield 3.

 

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