Civilization IV Whom?

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

Douglas Kern has relapsed into Civilization addiction. In Civilization IV Whom?, he explains the difference between Civilization and civilization:

The history of civilization (but not Civilization) is as much a history of decay, abandonment, and degradation as it is of freedom and heroism. When we assume that civilizations will necessarily progress rather than regress, we take the first step towards undoing the very progress we foolishly assumed to be a given. It seems unlikely that any computer game will ever capture the essence of growing and cultivating a civilization, because the maintenance of a civilization is boring. The patient teaching of age-old lessons, the defense of honorable customs and manners, the reverent admiration of greatness and the intolerance of evil — little animated men on a screen can’t act out these dramas. But these dull, humble acts build civilization more than technology and wonders of the world ever could.

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