Philosophy is the science of everything. In short, it seeks to study and understand the cosmos. The oldest branch of this pursuit is Theism - a belief that God/Gods are the primary cause for everything. It is a powerful approach, so much so that even today after thousand of years of work to move beyond "unseen powers" theism still stands as the foundation of most people's world views (even scientists!)
"Say, Verily my prayers and my sacrifice, my live and my death are unto God, no
associate has he. Thus have I been commanded and I am the first to surrender myself
unto him."
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES OF THEISM?
Theism purposes that unseen power/powers shape and control the world around us. This power is "numinous" (e.g. totally other worldly). Our encounters with it are awe inspiring and frightening. It is seen as either transcending our world (e.g. God speaking from heaven, Tao operating unseen and out of time beyond Earth) or as emanating from things in the Earth (e.g. the nourishment of food is the immanent power of God/food, an ancestors spirit speaks in one's dreams). Either way, this numinous power can not be "known" directly. We only know it by analogy. Stories, fables, hymns, poems, statues, paintings, theology and architecture all dance around the subject. They hint at the truth without ever actually revealing it. Presumably only a few every understand God. The saints, prophets and mystics.
Faced with an unseen and unknowable power people were at a loss about what to do. They explored the numinous by observing the world, which lead to the discovery that the world is full of patterns. Saints, prophets, shaman and mystics discovered (had revealed to them) patterns of behavior that when followed "placate" the numinous and lead to good lives. These patterns when taught form the core of religious ritual around which different religions rally. Religious institutions teach their particular rituals to pass on their understanding to the world (how the numinous works). Fables, myths, catechisms, holy books, sermons, sacrifices etc teach these secrets. So where at the beginning men were at a loss to cope with God, religion provides a broad highway for non-saints to understand and survive encounters with the numinous.
So theism breaks down into a few basic rules.
- 1. An unseen, unknowable power created and runs the world.
2. The "rules" of that power can be explored by allegory (myths, fables, credos).
3. Following correct rituals helps survive encounters with God's wrath.
THEISM'S IMPACT ON GAMES
"An unseen power created and controls the world." suggests the possibility that creation can happen and continues to happen. People have creative powers and thus are capable of inventing "worlds" of our own. Role play game masters operate as this type of "god" all the time. They literally "play" all the other characters in the world like puppets. Very much in keeping with the idea of a "God" running the world on a day to day basis.
God as the devine clockmaker is a much later idea, but it suggests that "God" started the ball rolling and set up rules by which events happen and then stepped back to watch. People can learn these rules (through observation or by thinking them out logically) and act in accordance with them to do things that are not obvious (like predicting eclipses). People can even make simpler models of the world that are analogies of how "God's" creation works. This has a great impact on games because it suggests that the world operates by a set of consistent rules. A game maker may make the rules up, a referee may run the rules, but it is the actual doing by the players that make events happen. All games with strict rules owe a debt to this religious view. This view will be explored more in the next article of this series - Thales, Pothagoras and Games.
Most games are about human interaction. We tell stories through the actions of the game. War stories mainly but also heroic tales, mysteries, quests and even love stories. All of these stories stem from the myths and fables of theism. Gilgimesh is the archetypal hero who goes on a magical quest to find the secret to eternal life and thus solve the mystery of death. The great bull of heaven's sacred marriage to Innana is the first love story (with a tragic ending - since the bull of heaven is always sacrificed by the end of the cycle!) The enduring stories of the Bible, Koran, Mahabarata, Illiad and others continue to teach the understandings about the world discovered so long ago by saints and prophets. They underpin all that we do. Thus, I may value Taoism but because I was not raised in China I lack the understanding of the mythic underpinnings of that religion. Islam is also foreign to Europeans, but it is a relatively small step since Semitic myths are part of European culture (from both Summeria and Christian origin).
Heroic stories have a predictable pattern to them. Without having it explained, children quickly pick up on the idea of good guys and bad guys, the idea of the struggle between the two characters over control of the world. They learn that good guys follow "the rules" while bad guys don't. And they learn that bad guys lose in the end. In fact when adults break these "rules" (by making the bad guy win or the good guy be bad) kids get up set. "That's not the way it's suppose to work!" But of course that is how the world works. Breaking the rules creates comedy, and surpris e twists. For adults it tweaks our sensibilities, taps its nose and says "we know there are no real good guys or bad guys" or an even deeper meaning "we know that good and evil both serve Gods purpose." Which is why these stories continue to capture our imaginations throughout our lives.
Ancient religions were all about doing rituals properly. It the sacrificial bull fought back when its throat was cut or if the priest coughed while reciting the prayer then the whole ritual was ruined. They had to start over from the beginning. Why? Because if the ritual was not properly done it could not effect change in the world (or worse, would effect bad change). All of which taught a profound respect for proper procedure.
The act of playing a game exactly parallels inacting a ritual. The game sets down a set of steps to resolve changes in the game world. If the procedures are not followed exactly then one is said to be "cheating". So much so that like children, some gamers become quite upset when the "rules" are broken. Its almost like an offence against God!
The Protestant reformation (and the religious wars that followed) coupled with the rise of science both discredited the clergy, and the rituals they guarded. Alternate world views were able to emerge. But still the rituals remain as does the dogged determination to defend them from the wicked (e.g. anyone who does not follow them exactly right). All of which explains why it is so hard to get players to pick up new games. Radically different ideas are "wrong" simply because they are not part of the ritual.
AFTERWARD
Theism is the oldest world view we can reasonable get our teeth into. It has been defining our world to us for at least 5,000 years. No surprise then that it forms the intellectual foundation of most of our game concepts. Individual creation of rules, the universal pattern of heroic stories, and ritual procedures to effect changes in the world are part of all games. Look for it, be aware of it when you see it. Then you can see how you deviate from those "rules." Because that is where you will find your other philosophical influences.
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© Copyright 1999 by Chris Engle.
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