The agony of victory, the thrill of defeat

“Games have a goal; life doesn’t.  Life has no objective.  This is what the existentialists call ‘the anxiety of freedom.’  Thus we have an alternate definition of what a game is–anything that provides temporary relief from existential anxiety.  This is why games are such a popular form of procrastination.  And this is why, on reaching one’s goals, the risk is that the reentry of existential anxiety hits you even before the thrill of victory–you’re thrown immediately back on the uncomfortable question of what to do with your life.” — Brian Christian, The Most Human Human