Elsewhere: Pop Charts, Storytelling, Transhumanism, The Abstinence Movie, etc.

John J. Thompson hears echoes of faith at the top of the pop charts.

Our very own Jason Morehead has written an excellent Meditation on one of my favorite movies, Zhang Yimou’s “Hero”

Matthew Lee Anderson on Madmen and Conservative Nostalgia.

“Lying and art spring from a common impulse: to escape reality. Art is in fact a kind of lying, and lying a form of art . . .” Interesting article from Ian Leslie on the human fascination with story telling.

Stewart Brand, in an interview with the European, seems to think the world is getting better and better–this fascinating interview delves into morality, politics, climate change, and technological progress.

Your Kung Fu is Weak–Brad Williams recommends that Christians hit the hardest questions of the faith head-on lest we get punched in the mouth.

Frictional Games, developers of Amnesia: The Dark Descent (probably my favorite game of 2010) has posted an excellent article on how games create meaning: “Finding Videogames True Voice.”

Alan
Think humanism is dangerous? Consider transhumanism. In this insightful article, Fred Baumann considers the practical, scientific, philosophical, and theological ramifications of this movement, concluding: “Curiously, from the point of view of the original humanism, the project of transhumanism looks remarkably theological. After all, Kurzweil’s ultimate dream is of men made into gods.”

Humans are more depraved than you believe. Case in point: Nigerian ‘baby factories.’

On two lighter notes, I was amused/troubled by this MMA brand of Christian clothing called “Jesus Didn’t Tap” and by this trailer for The Waiting Game, a Christian movie about abstinence before marriage.

Rich
I guess I’ll start off with a bit of shameless self-promotion – here’s my latest column for Gamasutra: Turning Over Tables in the Chain World Temple.

Randy Pitchford REALLY insists that you must both play and love Duke Nukem Forever. For the record, he is wrong.

Here’s an interview with the guys who are making that abstinence movie Alan linked above.

If you remember last week’s link to Ponycorn, you’ll love this little write-up about Cassie’s experience showing her game to her kindergarten class.

L.A. Noire isn’t what you think it is.

Is videogame addiction causing divorce?

Former CaPC writer, Chase Livingston shares some personal struggles in The Road to Somewhere.

Kristi
This is a somewhat frightening theory made into literature. But if the internet ever did reach the level of human intelligence, would that make it human? After all, isn’t it really our spirits which make us human?