True Rigor
True Rigor is productive, being distinguished in this from another Rigor which is purely formal and tiresome, casting a shadow over the problems it touches.
- Émile Picard, 19th century mathematician
Enter the first decade of the second millennium Anno Domini:
Another hindered Human age of need, speed, and greed.
The decline began when Microsoft invented the Xbox 360 along with in-game achievement incentives. Participants could now complete predefined lists of objectives for subsequent public display on the global computer network. Motivated by a newfound obsession with irrelevant tally marks, modern video game players soon devolved.
All media is constructed reality. To immerse the internal self in the fantastical worlds within physical literature and digital machines, external forces must be denied. Therein lies unique Challenges for able-minded wanderers, within those other planes of realities. Define a genuine goal alone and consider not sharing the accomplishment with another soul.
The Lord of the Rigors concept is an altruistic pursuit of personal gratification through the lens of Difficult video games. Often, the only tangible reward of Hard Mode is satisfaction in endurance. Witness a rare opportunity, best epitomized by an optimistic hobbit:
... he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
- J. R. R. Tolkien. The Return of the King, 1955.
Lord Rigor wields the torch and knows the path.
Inherit the mantle of the pre-internet gaming forebears.
To, once again, journey these dark, demanding, ancient halls...
Embrace True Rigor.
Choose Hard Mode over easy mode.
Overstep instant gratification, and realize personal gratification.
