Artificial Intelligence

Sometimes I think I am a bit of an anomaly (maybe we all are in certain ways).

The thing is, I believe every interaction in this life brings us opportunities to discover more about ourselves, about each other, about the meaning of life and the role of God. So it comes naturally to me to bring this curiosity for real life purpose into my role as Avatar creator for the characters in my favourite computer game.

Playing The Sims has been a long-standing favoured past-time for me. It’s an isolated pleasure because I don’t know anyone who enjoys playing it like I do.

I first discovered The Sims4 in 2014 when I bought it for my son. However it very quickly became my game and over the years it has given me endless opportunities to be an architect, interior designer and storyteller. I’ve always loved building and designing homes. First as a child, for my dolls and then as an adult applying my personal creativity to the places I have lived and worked in.

When I am building and designing in The Sims, I completely relax. I find it a wonderful way to unwind and allow my creativity to flow. And quite frankly, the scope for creativity in game is far greater and less expensive than it is in real life. So ‘build mode’ is the place I spend the most time in The Sims.

https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/pc

However, there is another aspect to The Sims that intrigues me, and I doubt this is a question that is considered by other players or the game creators… “What does playing The Sims tell me about our relationship with God?”

The real juice I take from creating characters and bringing them into interactions with each other is observing how they develop skills and relationships. I can control their actions, but the game includes a huge element of surprise when you allow things to develop outside of your control. Isn’t real life a bit like that?

It’s interesting to see how harmony, conflict, love, fear, anger and joy play out in each of the characters. And taking into consideration that I have created each of them with different personalities, career choices and hobbies it brings a lot of insight into the role of God in many popular religions. And ultimately, at least for me, it applies logic to the purpose of disharmony, war, famine, and natural disasters in real life.

Just a few thoughts then, for you to ponder on whist watching the video above.