Spore and the debate on evolution

[mrnelsby]

You know, I've been looking but haven't found any reaction from the Christian right on Spore. The way I see it, one could argue that Spore supports either argument. From a literal stance, it is clearly supporting the fact that evolution happens. However, one could easily argue that it is also supporting intelligent design drivel by placing the player in the seat of the "god" that desides how evolution plays out...

Anyway, if anyone sees any articles about people freaking out about the game, please do post them, I'm really curious if any of the religious types are noticing the media barrage and whether there are responses to it, or attempts to coopt it as part of their argument...

 

[Cowtippers]

It´s only because Jack Thompson isn´t a catholic to the point of fanaticism that we haven´t heard anything from them.

 

[sammyfreak]

Actualy it was the "militat atheists" who were upset about this one. ^^

 

[mrnelsby]

Any actual articles though?

 

[Splitter]

Thats a good point I hadn't thought of actually.
I never really thought people would get so angry over such in-offensive games but that was before I read an article which said MGS4 was obviously created to train the devil's army of sinners how to fight in some battle when the earth gets overtaken by demons..... Some people are just plain bizarre.

 

[mrnelsby]

Thats a good point I hadn't thought of actually.
I never really thought people would get so angry over such in-offensive games but that was before I read an article which said MGS4 was obviously created to train the devil's army of sinners how to fight in some battle when the earth gets overtaken by demons..... Some people are just plain bizarre.

Oooh, do you have that article? Sounds like a hoot!

 

[PhatmasterJ]

What if evolution IS Gods plan? The Bible was written for people who lived 2000+ years ago. Maybe "let there be light" is talking about the big bang? I'll buy that before the "God put fossils in the ground to test our faith" line.

Anyway sounds like its going to be a fun game.

 

[mrnelsby]

What if evolution IS Gods plan? The Bible was written for people who lived 2000+ years ago. Maybe "let there be light" is talking about the big bang? I'll buy that before the "God put fossils in the ground to test our faith" line.

Anyway sounds like its going to be a fun game.

Well, I think I'm thinking more of the people who take the bible literally. They are the ones that are far more concerned with evolution being "wrong." We are talking about the people who say that the fossil record was put there by god 6000 years ago or so just to test our faith...

 

[Aconite333]

Spore, by Will Wright's words, was meant to spark some kind of discussion, though it was very minor to a lot of other things too. Getting people to think about the topic is enough for him, and he probably expects some kind of flame war to go down somewhere, though he never intended.

If anything, Spore seems to teeter between Evolution and (Un)Intelligent Design more than anything else. I say Unintelligent because, well, just look at some of the monstrosities out there.

 

[The Wooster]

Spore, by Will Wright's words, was meant to spark some kind of discussion,

Will the discussion be about dicks? I think it will.

 

[the monopoly guy]

Actualy it was the "militat atheists" who were upset about this one. ^^

No matter what, no matter how hard you try, someone will be offended.


Also you forgot the "N" in militant.

 

[TheBluesader]

The fundies are too busy still screaming about all that hardcore in Mass Effect. They don't check their email that often, so they didn't get the memo yet.

And on a personal note: can we stop saying "the evolution debate?" There are also people who refuse to believe that Bono isn't a robot, but we don't refer to Bono's humanity as "the Bono humanity debate." This is like the media calling things "controversial" because they found one guy who did no research to say he's against whatever they're talking about.

You know, like with Mass Effect.

And no, I don't know why I picked Bono as the potential robot. Potential ALIEN robot.

 

[Woe Is You]

Three words: evolution is a lie.

Also, monkeys don't live several million years. Ergo, evolution is a lie.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Didn't the New York Times just do a piece about how Spore does a mangled version of evolution anyhow? There's no randomness to the game, ergo it doesn't really go into the fundamental principle of random genetic mutations.

I'm kinda hesitant to declare Spore to be a statement about evolution. Honestly, the idea of a bunch of kids in biology debating evolution based on what they learned in Spore seems like a bad idea.

 

[TheBluesader]

@Jeffries:

True true. The only game that should foster debate in schools is BioShock, so the kids don't have to read Rand and Nietzsche and turn into little snarky jerks for the rest of high school.

Because gamers are never little snarky jerks.

 

[zachbob2]

Three words: evolution is a lie.

Also, monkeys don't live several million years. Ergo, evolution is a lie.

Thank you!

 

[meatloaf231]

I am honestly surprised there hasn't been more of a ruckus from religious types.

 

[Kikosemmek]

Spore is about creationism, not evolution. The player shapes the creatures intently and consciously. Evolution is a matter of unbiased consequence.

I don't think I met anyone who fancied this game to be scientific or enlightening. It might be original and grand, even groundbreaking, but it won't be teaching anyone how life is formed and came to be the way it is today. You might just as soon mistake my own pecker for a broomstick.

And there are four words in the phrase 'evolution is a lie,' not three.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I am honestly surprised there hasn't been more of a ruckus from religious types.

Prolly cause they don't have to consider it fact since it's a video game. Hell, this book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men

would be banned by schools all over the place because of what an areligous, anti-individual message it has. Instead, because it's sci-fi, people just shrug and assume it has no relevance to their beliefs.

 

[Drednought1]

Three words: evolution is a lie.

Also, monkeys don't live several million years. Ergo, evolution is a lie.

Thank you!

Ever heard of being open-minded? I mean, im glad you have an opinion, but it seems a bit stupid to just believe everything that goes against it is a lie.

Im personally quite suprised that noone has taken a step back and thought that this is just another game. Which is exactly what it is.
You could even argue that its because their insecure and feel the need to defend their belief system because they think that if they dont then they might just start to realise it could be wrong.