THE ECHO

By Idowu Adeleke // Reporter

You’ve seen them: the people you’ve never talked to, the slow walkers and loud talkers with seemingly no objective but to fill up space. NPCs.

NPCs, or Non-Playable Characters, are rooted in the gaming community, referring to the characters with pre-programmed dialogue that the player interacts with. For the most part, NPCs are present for worldbuilding but hold little storytelling value in videogames. As the size of the gaming community exponentially increases, the use of the term grew popular to reference people with little relevance or defining characteristics.

The use of the term NPC to describe everyday people robs society of its naturally present empathy. This empathy deficiency is indicative of a larger political debate.

The great divide between the 2 parties has led to public discourse over what is moral. Whether it’s abortion or taxing the rich, emotion has entered what was once a solely academic sphere. Precisely because of this, the “solution” of generalizing your opposition through name-calling shifts the blame, establishing them as the one bringing emotion to the argument.

In labeling those that don’t directly agree or interact with you as not only other, or NPCs, but as inherently unable to exist in your reality, one risks dehumanizing the people who make up your very environment. With the label of NPC, you are emulating what you have seen from the people socioeconomically above you. While the harmless term NPC is humorous in a solely social context, the use of names to ignore acknowledging a person is an unfortunate trait of myriad politicians with actual influence.

Labeling individuals as NPCs removes the self-accountability of accepting your peers as equals, in turn, placing yourself on a pedestal. Language has the power to unite and dismantle communities. Understanding this can help you step off your self-endowed pedestal and onto the ground where everyone should stand. Decentralize your mind and get to know as many people as possible. Soon enough, the individuals you had once dismissed as NPCs will be your greatest companions.