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I can recite a few of these from memory, because you just hear them so often... Some of the most meaningful to me were the ones coming from a place of spiritua
by cryptoquick 7y ago
I can recite a few of these from memory, because you just hear them so often...
Some of the most meaningful to me were the ones coming from a place of spiritual philosophy. I am absolutely not a religious man, nor would I consider myself to be even remotely spiritual or superstitious. That said, there is a sort of poetic beauty through the concept of a deity as a storytelling mechanism, or a way to put a complex philosophy into a memorable narrative.
"Companions, the creator seeks, and not corpses, nor herds or believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks-- those who inscribe new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest. ... Fellow creators, Zarathustra seeks, fellow harvesters and celebrants... What are herds and shepherds and corpses to him!" (this quote is is often shortened, but this adaptation is the most meaningful to me)
"Men, in their arrogance claim to understand the nature of creation, and devise elaborate theories to describe its behavior. But they always discover in the end that God was quite a bit more clever than they thought."
I'm not a religious man, but I do identify with the visceral rejection of humanity's collective hubris.
and of course, hearing 'Eternity lies ahead, and behind. Have you drunk your fill?' some 20x per game really cements that phrase into my head.
I frequently play as Zakharov, and I like his quotes, but they're always rambling and difficult to recall in the moment.
That said, anyone playing as University would always make the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm a top priority. Fusion power and orbital spaceflight follow soon after, and that's the game. I usually go after Yang, then the Believers. Pretty formulaic at this point, but I enjoy it about as much, perhaps maybe even more, than Beyond Earth. SMAC just has so much character to it.
- jjoonathan 7y agoScientist: "All models are wrong, some are useful." Fiction Writer: "Oh, the arrogance of man, to believe he understands nature!" There's no hubris like the hubris of a science fiction writer claiming that the plot they cooked up for the express purpose of entertainment implies something deep about the actual risk profile of future technological development. Scientists trudge through a swamp of unknowns every day. That's their job. The idea of a scientist who thinks they know everything is as crazy as the idea of a programmer who thinks that all software is perfect and bug-free. Fortunately, Alpha Centauri also provides material for those who enjoy a healthy dash of ambition here and there: "I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I'd settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice." - CEO Nwabudike Morgan
- Apocryphon 7y agoYou seem to be responding to a Michael Crichton type doomsday situation, when that quote comes out of the mouth of a religious fundamentalist character, who doesn't even say it in a doomsaying way so much as chastising in a memento mori sort of way.
- jjoonathan 7y agoThen perhaps I should clarify: the Alpha Centauri character Sister Miriam Godwinson is no fiction writer, at least not in this world, her spiel just reminds me of one.