Now I’m not a psychiatrist, but I read a leaflet once, and the psychology of man in a western decadent society has become very interesting. There was a time when the idea of all this wealth and privilege disappearing was the worst horror we could imagine but it seems to me that we are almost gleeful of the prospect now. Documentaries about global warming take on an almost fantasy-like ideal of a quiet world no longer run by computers and satellites where the surviving few must return to working the earth. The zombie apocalypse gives us a scenario where we no longer have hundreds of petty problems and worries each day, just one big problem, free from any grey moral choices. Blow their heads off! End of.
Playing Fallout 3 I’m amazed by the size of the environments and the attention to detail as you wonder through a fallen capital city. A burnt out pram, a rusted boat, the skeleton of a drive-in cinema all evoke the sense of loss and yet instead of feeling bad about that I see my surroundings as a wonderful playground.
I think we are plagued as a species by greed. While there is something to be had, we want it. We want careers and money and houses and clothes and TVs because they are obtainable. We aren’t, most of us, willing to give these up for a quieter, more meaningful life under our own volition… but the idea of them being taken away from us and being left just with our own wits is very appealing. I don’t think I’m quite ready for the real life apocalypse but I’m glad I have an outlet like Fallout 3 for my strange desire to live through the end of the world.
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