Coded green.

Tuesday 30 October 2001

Screenshot Civ2

Pic of the day: OK, one more Civ2 screenshot.

More civilization

You’d think today’s entry is green with envy. Today is the day Civilization III is released in the USA, and some of my American readers may already have it by now. I’ve continued to read up on the previews and reviews and interviews. It looks set to be a wonder of the world. Not just new and beautiful art, but also a new and deeper, more intuitive gameplay. I’m almost trembling with desire to get this new and improved game. It seems that Civilization has finally grown up.

***

Actually, I do not easily envy or feel jealous. I guess this is a benefit of being a mystic, and feeling connected to mankind as a whole. Please don’t get this wrong, it is hardly a supernatural thing but rather a way of thinking. For a long time, I have felt that I was two different creatures at the same time. Not so much two souls in the same body, but two different functions. Think of a king. He is a man like all other men, with the need to eat and drink and pee and sleep, and with social needs too like any human. But at the same time, he is the incarnation of his nation. It is not just a job. He can’t clock out and go home. Well, he can, but even when he does he is still king. It is kind of like being a parent. Even when the kids are not at home, you are still a parent. It influences your thought, your perspective, and your priorities. It is what you are, right?

In the same way, I feel that I am both myself and the spirit of our shared civilization. Some of my memories are from my childhood, growing up in this particular tiny village. I remember a few of my toys, music I heard, and places I went. But other memories are of places and times where I have never been: The building of the pyramids, the battle of faith between Yahweh and Ba’al in Canaan, the forging of the Roman Empire and the Roman Peace. The Black Death in Europe, and the smallpox and measles and other diseases that killed 19 out of 20 native Americans over two centuries. These memories are less visual, but no less real to me. They may be less personal, but they are larger, more important, and longer lasting.

And while I do not supernaturally know all the things that happen in our civilizations, I know that things happen. And sometimes when I get to know, I feel that to a part of me it is as important as my own life. When a young boy sits down with a book instead of going out looking for trouble, our civilization grows. When a young girl writes poetry instead of slitting her wrists, we take a step forward. Stone by stone we build mankind’s civilization on Earth. It is not so much a clash between civilization as it is a clash, in each of us, between civilization and barbary. And while barbarians may be cool in comic books, they don’t make for much of a lasting legacy. Those who do, are those who create something. Or at least give a little more than they take ...

***

Speaking of barbarians and stuff, I know it may seem like civilization is doomed to lose, when you look at events like the Fall of the Towers in New York. How easy it was for a few barbarians (in mind at least) to destroy the lives of so many civilized men and women, and the works of so many more. But then I keep in mind that civilization is not just the buildings of brick and steel, but the building in each of us and the society we build together.

If history had gone on as we expected, eventually those towers would have been overshadowed by others. Perhaps quite literally, by higher buildings on Manhattan. Almost certainly by other buildings elsewhere in the world. There are already a few higher ones, though not as famous. Shortly before this event I read an article about towers. There it was mentioned that Shanghai in China was looking into building a "mile high tower" - a building of more than one kilometer with room for 100 000 people! I think that's not very likely for a while now ...

And even if, in a safer future, the mile high towers become an everyday sight, it is likely that the memory of the World Trade Center will endure for as long as our civilization lasts, now. And it may be a small comfort to Osama bin Laden, where he huddles in his caves, that he will be remembered too. Probably not mentioned in the same breath as emperor Nero, who is said to have been singing while Rome burned. Probably not even along with Attila the Hun or Ghengis Khan. But he may go down in history along with Herostratos, the man who burned one of the ancient wonders of the world in order to become famous. He was sentenced to death and to never have his name mentioned; but history is generous. Even tragedies become a part of the great weave, when seen from a distance.

***

Oh well. It seems that I am not able to write pure fluff right now, even when I try. But if I live to get my copy of Civ3, I can assure you that there will be fluff enough to fill a cup! Until then, I guess I shall have to stick with Civ2 and put the fun back into fundamentalism. :)


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