Brain Food #871: On doing the next best thing
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Snakes and ladders
1 min read
The article centers entirely on this game's symbolism and history, but readers would benefit from deeper knowledge of its origins in ancient India as Moksha Patam, its religious significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and how the game transformed as it spread globally
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Ouroboros
1 min read
The article references 'the serpent represented as a circle eating its own tail' as a symbol of life and rebirth. The ouroboros has a rich cross-cultural history spanning ancient Egypt, Greece, Gnosticism, and alchemy that would enrich understanding of the snake symbolism discussed
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Joseph Campbell
1 min read
The article quotes Campbell's 'The Power of Myth' extensively. Understanding Campbell's comparative mythology work, his concept of the monomyth, and his influence on storytelling would give readers valuable context for interpreting the symbolic framework the article employs
Lately, for no apparent reason, I have been thinking of the old board game Snakes & Ladders. The game’s origins trace back to India, with its earliest version dating back to the 16th century. Over time, it travelled across Eurasia to Victorian England, and later the United States.
Ladders represent virtues and moments of spiritual ascension, while snakes represent vices and subsequent falls. The descents could also symbolise mankind’s fall from grace, instigated by a snake, and the ladders our eternal attempts to rise back up to some form of Eden.
Across cultures and myths, the snake embodies both death and rebirth. Every fall thus becomes an opportunity for renewal amidst the terrors:
“The power of life causes the snake to shed its skin, just as the moon sheds its shadow. The serpent sheds its skin to be born again, as the moon its shadow to be born again. They are equivalent symbols. Sometimes the serpent is represented as a circle eating its own tail. That’s an image of life. Life sheds one generation after another, to be born again. The serpent represents immortal energy and consciousness engaged in the field of time, constantly throwing off death and being born again.
There is something tremendously terrifying about life when you look at it that way. And so the serpent carries in itself the sense of both the fascination and the terror of life.”
— Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth
The journey across the board is not linear, and not within the control of the players. Where one eventually ends up relies on the roll of a die.
Yet, the game is not about forfeiting responsibility, but about acknowledging the presence of unpredictability and strife in one’s life. It is a popular game with children because all that is needed to participate is rolling a die, without requiring complex thinking or a deep knowledge of world trivia. Older players tend to lose interest, moving on to games that require strategy and skill, and provide some sense of control over the outcomes.
One would expect a game of Snakes & Ladders to last forever; after all, if there are always setbacks, there is always the probability of facing them. However, even if it is possible for a game to go on indefinitely, the odds of this happening are close to zero. Half of all games end after the median of ...
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