The Purpose of the Game of Disc

The Purpose of the Game of

The purpose of any game is to have fun. But the long-lived inhabitants of Erda play disk to sharpen their awareness of the present moment. Any slip in the player’s awareness, or involuntary movement can result in serious injury or death. The player’s only safety is in his or her total self control, and understanding the disk-thrower’s intention.

For an individual with a long life, the greatest danger is not physical death, but the deterioration of the mind known as time-sickness.

Time-sickness

Erdans are susceptible to Time sickness, a debilitating disease whose causes are unknown. Symptoms include general boredom with life, frequent thoughts that everything has been done before, a fear of having to live for hundreds of years, preoccupation with time or memories, the inability to purge unpleasant memories and making machines to measure the passing of time.

Time-sick people tend to repeat themselves and dwell on past events, as they are unable to absorb new experiences. They rarely admit to their condition, but are most often recognized by their frequent use of the word, I. Most people endure the condition for a few years, and then commit suicide.

Though there is no known cure for time-sickness, the game of Disk is viewed as a measure to prevent the disease. A disciplined mind that faces death at every moment is not susceptible to time-sickness.

Training for Disk

See Chapters 17 and 18 of Immortality Machine.

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