Back in the day, I was trying to understand the meaning of life. It felt like there was no meaning because once you find a meaning, you need to find the meaning of that meaning. For example, if you decide that the meaning of life is to survive, you’ll be stuck with the next question: What is the meaning of survival? And there is no end. You might say the meaning of survival is X, but what is the meaning of X? It’s an endless cycle. At some point, I realized I was asking the wrong question. Perhaps I should be more self-centric and ask, “What is the meaning of my life?” And I think I found the answer: Be happy.
I thought, if someone created me — let’s say God, the Universe, or evolution — there probably was some sense instilled in me that would guide me in determining if I am doing the right or wrong things. And I think that sense is the sense of happiness. Different things make people happy: some enjoy fishing, others hiking; some love caring for children, while others prefer to sit in a dark room programming in C++. As long as you are happy doing what you do, you are doing the right thing and fulfilling the meaning of your life. This discovery motivated me to look into a career in game development because I thought gaming is the best medium to bring happiness to people.
The first year was eye-opening; I discovered that games are not entirely benign. They can cause obesity, addiction, and other harmful effects. I felt bad, possibly for a year or two, and thought I had made the wrong decision. I even considered switching my focus to the music industry. However, at some point, I realized that the harm games cause actually indicates that games have a lot of power, and that power can be channeled for good. This realization is what keeps me in the gaming industry. Games have the power to make people happy.