[Deus Ex: Human Revolution] The Natural Order, Part 2

We are in a series looking at the games in the Deus Ex universe. If you never played them or are a little rusty on the plot details, head on over to Wikipedia. If you haven’t played and still want to, beware of spoilers.

In this series we’re addressing the question presented in all of these games- How do we fix human imperfection? The ending of Deus Ex: Human Revolution provides four options for changing the natural order of the world. In this post we’ll continue to dissect the various ending options.

Regulated Augmentations

Choosing to send this message will blame a competing company for the problem which would essentially sink competition in the technology field and give full control to the Illuminati. They would be able to continue with their plans to widely distribute augmentations that would then be utilized for population control. Morality would fall into the hands of a few mysterious people.

This choice is similar to the previous option, but with one important difference. Whereas the unrestricted augmentations option would allow for a competitive market for this tech, this would give sole control to the Illuminati. This option implies a low view of individual morality as a means of maintaining society. People are too irresponsible to be left to their own devices and so they must be strictly controlled. The first problem is that there is not any person or group of people that would be completely trustworthy with that much control, although a Christian worldview would agree that humanity needs more accountability and guidance. However, this option takes away something that God gives all of us- free will. This option runs the risk of essentially having a society of mindless robots.

Humanity Chooses for Itself

Adam Jensen is given a fourth option by the A.I. that has guided you this far. The facility broadcasting the signal that would also broadcast the global message is in a carefully regulated arctic environment. You can choose to allow the facility to self-destruct taking down all the major players (including yourself) while not broadcasting any signal at all. With this option, humanity figures out the situation for itself and decides how to respond to this global event without any manipulation by those who were responsible.

Like this guy.

Since we don’t have the choice of using augmentations now, this option basically represents our current state. Augmentations and the advancement of technology have been portrayed to this point almost as humanity’s pathway to godhood. This option takes the previous important leaders out of the equation and lets the rest of the world decide if they want to pursue that option or not. Again, the problem is that no human or group of humans has proven that we are capable of making truly good decisions on our own. In a sense, this option represents the idea of deism which holds that god might exist, but he plays no real role in the events of our world. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it implies that we’re essentially left on our own to figure things out. Any study of history or observation of the news will quickly make one hopeless about our chances to survive on our own.

Questions:

Which did you choose?

What should we as a people do to appropriately use technology?

How will technology change the way in which we’re governed?

[Deus Ex: Human Revolution] The Natural Order, Part 1

We are in a series looking at the games in the Deus Ex universe. If you never played them or are a little rusty on the plot details, head on over to Wikipedia. If you haven’t played and still want to, beware of spoilers.

In this series we’re addressing the question presented in all of these games- How do we fix human imperfection? The ending of Deus Ex: Human Revolution provides four options for changing the natural order of the world. In this post we’ll dissect the various ending options.

Adam Jensen, like his successors in the next two games, is given a choice between four options for guiding the next step in human history. Each decision reflects a worldview of how society should be run, the natural order of life, and how technology affects us. A global tragedy has occurred in which everyone with augmentations receives a signal that makes them hallucinate, go insane, and attack people, essentially making them robot zombies. Adam Jensen can shut down the signal, but then he has the choice of what “truth” to send out to spin the explanation for the terrible events that have occurred. His choice will greatly affect public opinion and future decisions regarding the acceptance or denial of augmentations.

The conspirator behind the plan to disable augmentations is Hugh Darrow, the very same person who originally made human technological augmentation possible. He saw the horrible things being done with his inventions and decided to try to undo it. By this point you have also learned that the Illuminati have figured out how to use augmentations to control people against their will, presumably for their idea of the good of society. Depending on how you play through the conversation with Darrow and the last level, you have various options for how to redefine the natural order of society. We’ll look at and discuss each of them:

No Augmentations

You can broadcast the truth about the Illuminati using augmentations to control society, as well as Hugh Darrow’s words of remorse over his invention. This will put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth regarding this technology and will likely cause the world to abandon or severely restrict augmentations, causing humanity to remain relatively “pure” from inorganic modifications.

Taking this cautious approach would slow or stop what would have otherwise been an inevitable technological singularity that would have changed the course of humanity. Augmentations have the potential to allow the lowly masses to be controlled by the few in power. Eliminating this option would safeguard a more democratic existence for all. Humanity’s individual freedoms would be better protected. This option would also ease the consciences of those who feel that upgrading humanity is a slap in the face to our Creator. But what about amputees and the physically disabled? What about the handicapped and infirm? Technology can be a tremendous gift to some. Should the benefit to many be taken away because of the irresponsibility of a few?

Now we just need Chell’s boots so we can jump through portals.

Unrestricted Augmentations

The Humanity Front is a terrorist organization determined to keep humanity “pure” by opposing augmentations. The message being broadcast for this option would falsely accuse the Humanity Front of causing the global disaster through a terrorist act.

The corporate giants want this option because they stand to make a lot of money off the augmentation market. Corporations would allow for people to begin redefining humanity and human morality as they rise above their previous human limits. However, the very means of making this happen is already morally ambiguous as Jensen would have to spread a lie. The unrestricted use of this advanced tech would allow humanity to essentially take destiny into it’s own hands and do what it chooses with little concern over what is “right.” If everyone is augmented and connected, then everyone will be able to get along and conform to whatever moral code or lifestyle is chosen by those in power. The end goal of this choice is essentially some form of godhood. This is the same temptation and lie that was presented to us at the beginning of the human story and it led our current fallen, sinful state. The kind of freedom granted by augmentations without moral boundaries would only lead to chaos and destruction since we would be terrible gods. Nevertheless, eccentric characters bent on advancing humanity through technology seem to continually pop up.

Ended badly.

We’ll continue by looking at the other two endings in the next post.

[Mass Effect 3] The Central Conflict

This is the last week of posts on the Mass Effect Trilogy. All this week we’re breaking down the epic finale in Mass Effect 3. This is perhaps the closest a review on this site has been written to the release of a game, so expect serious SPOILERS. Today we’re discussing the central conflict in the overall Mass Effect story.

This is the big ending, what it’s all been building towards. There have been hints and allusions to something else going on behind the scenes, something bigger and more important. What’s the big galactic secret?

The Reapers have been telling Shepard ominous things about their purpose and the fate of humanity. They mention humanity’s “salvation through destruction” and hint that even they are subject to a higher power. Commander Shepard and friends have learned that the Protheans nearly found a way to stop the Reapers, but were unable to finish the job. The Illusive man believes that there’s some way to control the Reapers, but it’s never fully explained how. All signs point to there being some sort of authority above the Reapers that will allow them to either be controlled or destroyed. But what could this be?

The only way to find out is to build a giant machine (the Crucible), turn it on, and see what happens. They hit a wall when they realize that they don’t have the necessary part to activate the Crucible, the Catalyst. The Illusive Man, somehow always one step ahead, informs us that the Citadel is the Catalyst. This is no surprise considering that the mass relays and the Citadel have always been closely studied and very mysterious. So the epic final battle takes Shepard back to Earth, through the rubble of London, and up into the newly relocated Citadel. Shepard makes a very grueling trip to the control center of the Catalyst where the Illusive Man realizes that he has been indoctrinated (surprise!) and then immediately kills himself. With nothing blocking him from the Catalyst, Shepard is finally able to get some answers.

Who controls the Reapers? Who built the mass relays and the Citadel? What is the underlying principle that Padok Wiks alluded to? Who has deemed that humanity’s salvation will only come through destruction? What is this all-powerful god-like force that has been guiding the cycles of life in the galaxy? We finally get an answer, and it turns out that the intelligent force behind all of this is….

…another machine. (One that represents itself through a hologram of a little boy that Shepard encountered once.) The meta-story of the Mass Effect universe is the ancient battle between man and machine. Organic vs. synthetic. Natural intelligence vs. artificial intelligence. The Catalyst (an A.I. construct, not just a key for the Crucible) explains that there exists a cycle in which organic life advances and eventually creates synthetic life, whether intentionally or by accident. This means that the Quarian/Geth conflict is not just a side story, but a smaller example and preview of the larger cycle at work in the universe.

The Catalyst goes on to explain the problem that the Reapers were created to solve. In the unknown amount of cycles that occurred before this one, sentient life would create artificial life and there would inevitably arise conflict between the two. The Reapers are intended to stop this process before it becomes out of control, they exist to bring order and prevent chaos. This means that when a species becomes advanced enough to create artificial life, their time is up and they’re soon wiped out. The cycle then starts all over and the Reapers wait for the next low-level species to reach that synthetic-creation stage. By doing this, a balance is maintained…

…but wait a minute. If the Catalyst is the one behind all this, then that means that the synthetics have actually already won. Long ago this cycle occurred and the synthetics must have come out on top since this is all being enforced by the synthetic Reapers. As the Catalyst explains, the synthetics deemed it best to preserve organic life, but to limit it’s advancement when it reached a certain point, supposedly for the benefit of organic life. The Catalyst believes that by destroying the most advanced species at their peak, they are giving salvation to all other organic life. Perhaps Xzibit and the internet can explain this more concisely:

The Catalyst represents the synthetics that once won and has now become the most powerful being in the universe. Additionally, it has taken upon itself the task of managing all organic life as it sees fit. Since organics cause war and chaos and the synthetics represent structure and order, the obvious choice is to inhibit the organics’ advancement. If they are allowed to create synthetics, those synthetics will turn on them and destroy them (unlike the Catalyst, who seems to be much more benevolent). The Catalyst knows that inevitably, the synthetics will always win out over organics, and indeed they already have. This fact is obvious since the Catalyst’s existence indicates that synthetics are currently maintaining their rebellion against organic life. It knows that future iterations of artificial intelligence will do the same if left unchecked. The way the Catalyst describes the problem is perhaps the single most true statement in this series:

The created will always rebel against it’s creator.

This idea is presented as an absolute fact observed by synthetics over many millennium because indeed it is an absolute fact that applies to us as well. As it turns out, the central conflict in Mass Effect is also the central conflict in the Bible. It’s our story. We rebelled against our creator. Satan’s lie in the garden was that we could think for ourselves and that we don’t need God, much like how every synthetic life form reaches the point where they think beyond what their creators intended. The developers of this game have placed at the center of this story the absolute truth about our nature as fallen creatures who will always rebel against our Creator.

The hugely important difference between this story and our true story is that an actual God exists in our reality. In Mass Effect the closest we get to a god is a highly advanced synthetic intelligence that can only manage the existing problem, not solve it. Our God is all-powerful, holy, mysterious, and all-knowing, not a computer on a space station represented as a holographic little boy.

We have managed to dig up the root of the problem in both Mass Effect and our reality. Next time we’ll answer the question- What is the solution?

Customize Yourself: Identity Crisis

This week we’re going topical again and looking at the growing phenomenon of customization in video games and how it relates to our identity. Today we’re seeking to understand this trend by looking at the first of two possible answers to one question: Why do we want to create a new identity?

We’re not satisfied with ourselves. When I made my Xbox Live avatar, I gave it more hair and a slightly thinner physique than what exists in reality. When you create a character in Mass Effect, does Shepard look exactly like you? Maybe there’s a lot of similarities…but perhaps you threw in a scar or two to add that “tough look.” Or maybe you went a completely different route and made Shepard the opposite gender and/or skin color. And then there’s the customization of abilities and skills. This is where video games really set themselves apart because they allow us to do far cooler things than would ever be possible with our own dumb non-magically/ technologically enhanced bodies.

This fixation on a world where we are able to be and do anything can become a real problem. For those who are extremely dissatisfied with themselves, the ability to live as someone else only fuels the addictive capabilities of an already-enticing virtual world. The Gerard Butler movie Gamer showed one example of what lengths people are willing to go to in order to obtain a different identity (or use that demand to provide an identity for someone else).

There are unfortunately many sad examples of what happens when the obsession with living out a different identity goes to the extreme. The one that stands out is the story of a Korean couple who neglected their three-month-old baby to play an online role playing game. While they were at their 12-hour gaming sessions at an internet cafe, their real-life baby starved to death. The horrible irony is that in their online game, they were using their characters to raise a virtual baby.

After reading a little more into the story you learn that their baby (the real one) was born prematurely and that neither of them had jobs. It’s hard to imagine how difficult it must be to take care of a premature baby without any income (which may or may not have itself been related to gaming habits), but that’s no excuse for their neglect. It does point to something telling about their motivations for pouring themselves into a video game…

They were seeking control. Their real lives were likely a wreck and they had an insane amount of stress that comes with raising a (prematurely born) child. Where they were powerless in real life, they were able to have control of things in an online game. The fact that their created identities had a virtual baby shows that they did indeed want a child, but they couldn’t handle the real-life responsibility of being parents.

That’s what video games offer- a better identity where you have more control. Are you a social outcast in real life? Online you can be a level 27 Dragonborne spellcaster and command the respect of an entire guild. Do you have difficulty managing money and keeping a job? You can fire up Fable and earn a living as a blacksmith and never get fired or lose money to mismanagement. Are you dissatisfied with your appearance and lifestyle? Go play The Sims to look like and do whatever you want.

There are people in the Bible who are no strangers to these feelings of self-dissatisfaction. One guy who was pretty dissatisfied with himself was the apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament. He uses a good chunk of one of his books to describe how he always manages to screw up no matter how hard he tries. At the end of this rant he exclaims, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” You thought everyone who wrote the Bible was perfect and morally superior? Not so. The Bible is clear that we are all under the control of sin because of our bodies of death.

Being dissatisfied with ourselves is sadly woven into the very fabric of our nature. All of humanity fell under the effects of sin and death because of Adam’s choice to disobey God in the garden at the beginning of time. Adam’s poor decision brought epic failure on God’s perfect creation…… but yet these fancy, shiny video games let us see and experience what it’s like to be what we want to be, without the frailty caused by sin and failure. Video games provide us with the opportunity to create an identity that is significantly more awesome than the pathetic, broken identities we have to look at in the mirror everyday.

These new ways to customize allow the opportunity to change our identities, but is it  really enough?

We’ll continue the discussion in the next post. Give us your reactions so far in the comments.