A question I have received numerous times is whether the Lifeist movement is an ARG. This is an interesting question that raises many philosophical issues. In many ways the movement can be considered an ARG or a LARP, it certainly tells a story which people will act out in the real world, but the story is very open ended and lacks the mystery element of typical ARGs. The story Lifeists participate in is one of personal development and societal progress.

Something similar to ARGs in this respect is religion, religion too tells a story that its followers act out in their real lives, although there are some differences: religion tells a much longer and more open ended story which focuses on personal development and in the good ones societal progress. Religion however tends to lack self awareness of itself as a narrative and this leads to fundamentalism and abuse. This is very unfortunate as it denies many people the benefits of being in a religion in the first place.

The Order of Life seeks to give the benefits of religion within a self contained ARG narrative. It is a sort of hybrid between a traditional media franchise in the books movies and games I hope to release, an ARG in the narrative people live out, a social media app in the app I will do a Kickstarter for to help the community, and a religion in it’s widespread impact and long term intergenerational goals.