I’ve looked it up, but apparently my brain is too tiny right now to figure it out…thanks for nothing wikipedia.
My wife brought it up when I said I hated league of legends but felt the need to play it…She said its like I have to do something, even when I dont like it or I feel like I lose my identity.
dunno.
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Essentialism is, basically, the idea that every thing has an “essence” that makes it what it is, and without that essence it’s not that thing. The “essence” is vague. Typically it’s a set of traits that are unique to to the thing (a dog barks, so it is different from a cat, which meows), but sometimes is more intangible (e.g. the classic difference between pornography and artistic nudity is “I know it when I see it” – you just “sense” it rather than being able to define it).
The thing about essentialism is that it’s really reductive and typically not helpful in understanding the world or ourselves. Like, it’s essentialist to believe that liking pink is part of the “essence” of womanhood, so *only* women like pink and *all* women like pink.
In your case, you might think of yourself as a gamer and therefore “must” play certain games, and you’re not a gamer if you play other kinds of games. But you don’t have to play LoL if you don’t enjoy it. There’s no Gamer Essence™ that gets taken away if you think it’s boring or not fun.
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