Becoming-State the Bio-Cultural Imperialism of Sid Meier’S Civilization
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Becoming-state The bio-cultural imperialism of Sid Meier’s Civilization Kacper Pobłocki “Representations of what lay beyond insular or metropolitan boundaries came, almost from the start, to confirm European power. There is an impressive circularity here: we are dominant because we have the power (industrial, technological, military, moral), and they don’t, because of which they are not dominant; they are inferior, we are superior (…) and so on and so on” (Said 1994: 127). “Thanks to Civilization I lerned history and English” (Igor from Moscow, posted on the ‘HotGames’ mailing list (original spelling)) What would have happened to the world his- civilizations thesis has usually been mailed to tory, had the prospective artist A. Hitler been Huntington, it is Meier who was first, has more admitted to the Vienna Art Academy? This to say, and, as is argued in this paper, seems and other equally thrilling questions of ne- more convincing. Not only computer freaks, cessities and contingencies of history have for whom Meier is the greatest software pro- so far been tackled, and rather unconvincingly grammer of all times, but also respectful MIT at that, only by political fiction and by some researchers have been hailing Meier for the even less impressive social scientists (Fergu- educational qualities of his game (Squire 2002). son 1998). But the issues involved are wider Civilization with its three sequels from 1991, than the answers available: what is the major 1996 and 2001 means much more than millions force behind history and does the world have of copies sold all over the world: it means also to look the way it does? What is at stake here dozens of fan websites, hundreds of volun- is our identities: why are we the way we are, teers from ‘all over the world’ (i.e. Europe, the and why can we not change it? One of the US and Japan) working on open source clones least impressive although lately highly popu- of the game, a project going on for seven years lar answers to these questions was given by now.1 There is even a computer game called Sid Meier, who argued that the major force in ‘The Clash of Civilizations’ (2002), also cre- history was the clash of civilizations, as it were ated by volunteers and conceived as a dead- defining the existent socio-political order. Some ringer for Meier’s work. The latest version of people saw the events of September 11, as a Civilization has been suggested a ‘critic’s pick’ proof of Meier’s (I mean Huntington’s) thesis in Time Magazine (2001), hailed there as ‘the (Kaplan 2001) but not everyone noticed that it pinnacle of achievement’, and glorified in had been obvious to millions long before the many other major news sources. To cut it short: infamous recent hijack. The point was ‘proved’ Civilization is all-out enthusiasm. in 1991 when Microprose released a strategy Thus, with the technological generation gap game called Civilization. vanishing, computer games can no longer be Although praise or criticism of the clash of perceived as a play tool for teenage boys (Jen- Focaal - European Journal of Anthropology no. 39, 2002: pp. 163-177 163 kins 1999) because their impact is much more tribute to establishing hard facts about social widespread. Not only are some computer reality, such as in the case of Schelling the games, such as flight simulators, as the co- reasons of racial residential segregation in the author of Civilization Bruce Staley reveals, tar- US. Military geostrategists of the Cold War geted solely at adults (Herz 1997: 211) but pro- used similar models in order to predict what grammers who work on Civilization clones pro would have happened if the nuclear war should publico bono elevate this game to the posi- have been launched. The outcome of their tion of a public good, ‘cause Civilization study was always mutual annihilation, which should be free’, as a slogan of Freeciv (2002) convinced US generals not to play with fire reads. Free education, health service and ac- (Herz 1997: 216). While Schelling’s model was cess to Civilization for everyone: that is where usually played on a board, the mentioned Rand the play becomes serious. Although Meier Strategy Assessment was already conceived himself is orthodoxly apolitical, for many as software. people his game does convey a major political Commercial strategy games, just as flight message. For example when asked whether the simulators, were very often simply user-friend- emphasis on pollution in Civilization was in- ly versions of such military programs (Herz deed a green statement, Meier stated: “We 1997: 216-17). Civilization was based on three very consciously avoid putting our political computer games: Empire, SimCity, and Railroad philosophy into the game. It takes you out of Tycoon as well as a board game from 1981 the fantasy and makes you aware that some- called Civilization. Empire descends from the one else designed this game” (Chick 2002). cold war military software: play itself is limited Well put: no blunt propaganda but instead to choosing the best military tactic to domi- Althusserian unconscious manifestations of nate the randomly generated planet. SimCity, cultural claims, of which Meier may well not on the other hand, follows the scientific tradi- be aware. tion: it is a real-time simulation of a city, where a player creates an environment in which vir- tual residents live, and depending on the con- The grand narrative of the ‘greatest ditions provided move in or out. Often, such game of all time’ commercial strategy games would return to the professional world, as was the case with Hid- Computer games are largely indebted to quan- den Agenda employed in the training of dip- titative science. It is in the rational choice lomats and CIA agents (Herz 1997: 222) or theory research that the foundation for strat- SimCity extensively used at the 1994 Mayors egy games was developed back in the 1950s Conference in Portland (Herz 1997: 221). and 1960s. Such concepts as the Schelling’s Civilization is the first bold attempt to simu- (1971) model of residential segregation or Axel- late the whole of human history in computer rod’s famous ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ (De Landa software. Ambitious as it sounds, the game 1993) allow us to reduce human behavior to a nevertheless does not go beyond reproduc- few simple variables, create virtual agents, ob- ing models of social change well known, and serve their simulated behavior in time, as well extensively criticized, in twentieth-century as rerun the model with a possibility of alter- social science. To take a notable example, in ing the variables or the raw data at no cost Big structures, large processes, huge com- (Featherstone and Burrows 1995: 14; Gilbert parisons (1984) Charles Tilly dissects the ves- and Doran 1994). Such models, regardless of tige of nineteenth-century natural history in non-materiality of the subjects and the envi- today’s social science. The tradition often as- ronment, have the weight of a scientific ex- sumes that a society is a coherent, self-con- periment: contingencies that are explored con- tained unit (Tilly 1984: 24-25) which moves 164 through standard and abstract stages (1984: (Ferguson 1998, De Landa 1993). The only use 41-42), each more advanced and complex than of such models has to do with their ‘univer- the previous one (1984: 11). Such a model con- salizing’ property (Tilly 1984: 97), and that stitutes the backbone of Civilization as well. quality is very well utilized by Meier. In Civilization history is embodied in a ‘tech- A major theme in both twentieth century nology tree’ that leads the player through social science and Civilization is that modern- simulated time: all major human achievements ization leads to differentiation, differentiation are structured in a cause-effect chart that en- creates greater complexity, and complexity as- ables the player, starting the game in 4,000 BC sures even greater strength, wealth and sup- with one settler and few ‘advances’ such as, pleness (Tilly 1984: 43-44). This usually in- say, irrigation, bronze-working and pottery to volves an emphasis on the “natural history of finish the game in 2020 AD with a hyper-mod- economic development” (Tilly 1984: 82), divi- ern society capable of colonizing outer space. sion and specialization of labor, as well as the How? The starting advances allow us to ‘let problem of social cohesion (Tilly 1984: 50-53). our scientists work’ on progress, for example These concerns constitute the backbone of ceremonial burial opens the way to mysticism. Civilization: we start with a ‘primitive’ tribe It also leads to monarchy but only if we have consisting of a few units, and gradually build at the disposal both ceremonial burial and up a sophisticated conglomeration of cities code of laws. Thanks to the ceremonial burial (with increasing population that after a cer- we can also build temples in our cities. Thanks tain threshold can be split into classes), infra- to other advances, such as the wheel, we can structure (roads, mines, factories, libraries, additionally build stronger military units, in etc.), units (soldiers, diplomats, workers, etc.), this case chariots. resources (wine, oil, gold, etc.), and at certain This evolutionary model cannot be influ- moment our civilization is so complex that enced by the player: the ‘tech tree’ always many players find the enterprise hard and even remains the same. The player will always move boring to administer (Chick 2002). Nearly ev- from the Ancient through Medieval and In- ery element of the game is quantified (not only dustrial to the Modern Era, and the outlook money, production of units and infrastructure of cities and clothing of citizens and advisors, but also science and culture) and gradually as well as the representation of the player him/ ‘produced’: technological advancements are herself, after every mile step will become more produced by scientists and culture is gener- fashionable, read: modern.