Dear Son: Don’t fear the creeper, fear the lava.

Dear Son,

Don’t fear the creeper, fear the lava.

You and I play Minecraft together pretty often. I like playing it with you – I like having something you think is still “cool” in common with each other.

I crack up sometimes when we play because of your fear of the creeper, though. Yes, the creeper can be scary, but it’s not your biggest threat in the game.

I think Minecraft is an awesome teaching tool – and I don’t just mean for you. I think it can teach many of us important life lessons. Some are more obvious, like math, geometry and even architecture, but others are less obvious.

One lesson that I think I’ve come to learn from playing the game with you is one that I hope you’re able to pick up on as well. This lesson involves the feared Minecraft creeper.

You rarely see them coming and that’s what they’re known for – sneaking up behind you and causing damage to your home or your character.

Many fear the creeper and his sneaky ways, but I’ve grown accustomed to this threat. I fear something other than the direct blast from a creeper. I fear falling into a cavern or lava from the blast of the creeper more than the creeper itself.

That brings me to my lesson from Minecraft…

Fear of the Unknown

One of the first lessons I’ve learned from Minecraft and more specifically from creepers in Minecraft relates to the fear of the unknown (or unseen). Many players, like you, fear the creeper so much that they walk around constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of one sneaking up behind them.

The fear of the unknown and unseen creeper attack changes your behavior. It impacts the way you play the game, which is actually a big reason the game developers added the creeper to begin with.

I no longer fear the creeper in this way, though. I’ve come to learn more about how and when creepers spawn and I have adjusted the way I move within the game to minimize contact with creepers as much as possible.

Just as there’s no guarantee anyone can completely eliminate all threats in real life, there’s no guarantee a creeper won’t sneak up on me someday as well. But I don’t let the fear of the unknown dictate how I live my (Minecraft) life.

Sneak Attacks & the Fear of Falling

The real threat from creepers in Minecraft is not the blast they give, but rather, from the result of the blast itself.

You have seen it before – on more than one occasion, I’ve been in a seemingly safe location and a creeper has snuck up behind me and blown up. It just so happened that I was actually above a deep cavern, only covered by a thin layer of dirt. When the creeper blew, I survived the blast, but I found myself falling hundreds of feet (or blocks) into a cavern filled with lava. Most of the time, the fall actually killed me. A few times it didn’t, but then I was deep into the terrain, injured and not always equipped to dig myself out in time.

I think the life lesson here is that the best laid plans aren’t always fool-proof. I wear armor, carry special weapons to defend against creeper sneak attacks and even have a pet cat (creepers are scared of cats). All of that isn’t always enough to keep me safe from harm.

It’s important to be diligent and aware in Minecraft just as it’s important in life. But our fears can’t be allowed to control us and allowed to dictate how we live. If we let that happen, then we’ve let the creeper win.

Love,

Dad