Already more than 130 villagers have lived on my little island, half of them are still alive and working. Most that have died lived to ripe old ages of 70-80. Unfortunately, I have maxed out my population so any new births are just replacements for the old folks as they die.
They have completed 11 out of the 12 challenges set before them, although two of the challenges grate against my own Christian worldview. They took time to carve an idol and then there was the birth of the "Golden Child". The Golden Child is perpetually a child of 5 and has magical powers. The magical powers allowed the child to remove a boulder to an artifact cave that the entire village had been trying to move since the beginning.
Besides the mindless escapism of running my own world, it does get me to think about the parallels to our real world. It is definitely demotivating to hardwork when all your physical needs are abundantly supplied and you are limited by the size of your community. Now that nearly all the challenges are gone, the villagers stand around doing nothing but eating, procreating and burying the dead. Even their religious practice is empty and meaningless since they replace worship of the true God with worship of a rock they themselves have labored to carve. How much is this like our own society. How dreary.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Worldview Test
 | I took Laura's challenge to visit this spot and take the test. The first time I took it, I was tied as a Cultural Creative and Fundamentalist. (Laura says I'm a tweener). You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com |
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Village Sim
Recently, I bought a game for my Palm Tungsten called Village Sim. You start with these six villagers on a desert island. My job is to make sure they have food, shelter and health. I have to train them to achieve these necessary survival skills, otherwise they will die. They have definite lifespans too-the original six are long dead and buried along with their first two children; in order to sustain the village, you must "encourage" them to reproduce.
Sometimes they eagerly take to the tasks I want them to perform such as farming and building, other tasks such as doctoring the sick I have to drag them to do it. Children under 14 and nursing mothers with children under 2 do nothing but play and rest. The elderly (over 60) move very slowly.
Unfortunately, some of the able-bodied villagers are slackers which endangers the welfare of the entire community. Right now, I've grown the population to 44 with eighteen children, two nursing mothers, and 6 elderly folks. this is a great burden on the food production since there is more eating than farming/fishing. It will be okay as soon as some of the children are old enough to work and the mothers are freed up again, yet it is hard to keep the able-bodied adults focused on the tasks at hand.
As "god" of my little island, I find it frustrating that I cannot get my people to lay aside their selfish desires without my continual intervention into the process. Eventhough I can see the perspective of the entire island in the now, I am limited in my knowledge of the dangers and perils which lie ahead.
Compare this to our world and our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He knows not only what is happening now in the big picture with His billions of little people, but also what will happen in the future. No wonder He wants us to trust Him completely and has entered into our world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is very patient with His villagers, some who are very evil. I don't have to contend with evil and yet I do not have the patience for 44.
He loves and cares for each one; I'm caught up in the raw numbers -units of food, tech points, ages.
Be very glad I am not God and neither is any of us villagers as well.
Sometimes they eagerly take to the tasks I want them to perform such as farming and building, other tasks such as doctoring the sick I have to drag them to do it. Children under 14 and nursing mothers with children under 2 do nothing but play and rest. The elderly (over 60) move very slowly.
Unfortunately, some of the able-bodied villagers are slackers which endangers the welfare of the entire community. Right now, I've grown the population to 44 with eighteen children, two nursing mothers, and 6 elderly folks. this is a great burden on the food production since there is more eating than farming/fishing. It will be okay as soon as some of the children are old enough to work and the mothers are freed up again, yet it is hard to keep the able-bodied adults focused on the tasks at hand.
As "god" of my little island, I find it frustrating that I cannot get my people to lay aside their selfish desires without my continual intervention into the process. Eventhough I can see the perspective of the entire island in the now, I am limited in my knowledge of the dangers and perils which lie ahead.
Compare this to our world and our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He knows not only what is happening now in the big picture with His billions of little people, but also what will happen in the future. No wonder He wants us to trust Him completely and has entered into our world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is very patient with His villagers, some who are very evil. I don't have to contend with evil and yet I do not have the patience for 44.
He loves and cares for each one; I'm caught up in the raw numbers -units of food, tech points, ages.
Be very glad I am not God and neither is any of us villagers as well.
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