Acclaimed author, artist and athlete Hermes Trismegistus in the library, where he teaches the townspeople valuable skills to improve their work and their neighborhood. What?

We are talking about The Sims 3, the “people simulator” from Electronic Arts. With far more detail than the previous simulator, and with improved artificial intelligence, the small people inside the computer go about their lives no longer just as a family, but as a community. And in the small town of Riverview, numerous computer-generated people (“townies”) live their simulated lives in their simulated homes, go to their simulated jobs and come home with simulated money to pay their simulated bills.

Enter Hermes Trismegistus (loosely based on the Hellenic deity of books and wisdom, which again may be based on one or more historical figures of extraordinary accomplishment.) In the game, he is a playable character, controlled by me rather than by the computer. He is also artistic, athletic, good and a genius bookworm. In other words, he is as near to the perfect man as the world he lives in allows. And with my daily guidance, he gets even better.

His first focus is on gardening, allowing him to grow the coveted Lifefruit while he is still young.  Later he becomes able to make Ambrosia, which has the ability to reset the age of a sim to the beginning of its current life phase. Now effectively immortal, Hermes has studied a wide range of subjects as well as improved his body to amazing strength and health. So far, so good. It may sound like a male Mary Sue (for those of you unfamiliar with literary concepts, this is a too-good-to-be-true character that usually represents the author in poorly written fiction, especially fan fiction.)  But there is a twist to this character.

On workdays, Hermes goes to the library, where he writes non-fiction books. After work hours, he talks to townspeople who come to the library, brightening their days. He asks them about their career, then if they need a skill for that career, he will tutor them for free.  For instance he will teach writing to a journalist, gardening to an agricultural scientist, or logic to a police detective. On weekends, he will go to the gym and train with those of a more physical ambition.

As a result of the teachings of Hermes, more and more of the townsfolk are successful in their work. They advance in their career repeatedly and find job security, higher income and less stressful work. As their economy improves, they become able to move to more expensive homes that have been empty before.  Families that have been forced to live with friends or relatives get their own homes, and families that lived in overcrowded houses have room to have children.  Slowly, year by year, the whole town flowers and becomes more prosperous, thanks to the tireless work of one man.

By all means try this at home. ^_^