Update VIII: Theoretical Background & Vote the Truth Update
In this update we would like to talk about two of the books that had a great influence on DEMIURGOS: Path of the Leviathan and that have been a source of inspiration for us.
The historic Persian wars are meant to be authentically interpreted in the game, and the first book that we will present is by far the most important account of these events.
Herodot: Histories
Histories (greek ἱστορίαι historíai “explorations“) by Herodot is the only known preserved work of the greek author who is often labeled father of history, for he was one of the first individuals who aspired to pass on history objectively and scientifically. His monumental creation spans nine books and was written in the fifth century BC. It offers an overview of the years 700-479 BC; roughly 220 years. Beginning with the ancient oriental great empires Lydia, Babylon and Egypt and ranging to the origin of occidental culture in Ion, the text gives witness to the genesis of the Greek states and the Persian empire and culminates in the Greek-Persian battles of the Persian wars.
In our game we use Herodots „Histories“ as basis for our new interpretation of historic correlations. Many of the events described are to be integrated authentically into our own timeline. Demagogues and military leaders, ideologies and political systems, systems of thought and views of the world – all of these were as relevant and contemporary in the long 19. Century as they were in the time that this work was created in. It offers a rich palette of ideas and stories – actually too much to include in just one game.
Gustave Le Bon: Psychology of the Masses
Psychology of the masses is the main work, of Gustave Le Bon, a Frenchman widely recognized as being the founder of mass-psychology. Mass-psychology is a domain of social psychology and studies the behavior of groups of peoples. Le Bon represents bourgeois-elite conservatism which rejects any hope of cultural, social and political advancement based on the commencing “era of the masses”. The masses, empirically viewed, are entirely stripped of reason. Even the educated, the individual that is able to act reasonable, is guided by unconscious and baser instincts from the moment he becomes part of a crowd. Every forming mass of people is a growing gathering of opportunists. Masses level the collective intellectual capabilities to the lowest standard.
"In the masses, the dumb, uneducated and envious lose their feeling of nullity and impotence which is replaced by a perception of, although impermanent, raw and immense power."
Gustav Le Bon also foresaw our current government debt crisis. He assumed that politicians – driven by the opportunistic masses – would not be able to make larger decisions conflicting with the acute demands of the general public, for example potentially necessary cutbacks in certain areas of the budget. At the same time government spending increases for political reasons: to obtain new groups of voters.
"The uninterrupted growth of said spending inevitably leads to bankruptcy. Many states of Europe; Portugal, Greece, Spain and Turkey, have reached this status – others will follow soon. But this is not really something one has to mind much, for the public has, without much objection, slowly but surely accepted the cut of four fifths of all payments from the assorted countries….and in a time of general decline one has to be satisfied with living for the moment, without thinking of tomorrow – a tomorrow that we cannot influence."
