On Wednesday 07 May 2008 06:44, Michael Ash wrote:
> Tue Sorensen <sorensonian@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> On May 6, 11:39?am, Erik Max Francis <m...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> Tue Sorensen wrote:
>>> > On 5 Maj, 20:44, Niels <n...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> >> How about current Battlestar Galactica? There's _one_ scientist,
>>> >> who's mad, never does any science and quite possibly kills people
>>> >> left and right. There are spaceships, but it's all sort of steam
>>> >> punk-ish tech. Evil machines are, or are not, trying to kill
>>> >> everybody. Everything is wrapped in religion, mysticism and really
>>> >> loathsome characters. What say you?
>>>
>>> > The religion in Battlestar Galactica is presented specifically *as*
>>> > religion. There is no evidence of supernatural happenings. The
>>> > religion is based in legends about Earth, and these myths are part
of
>>> > the plot, and it will probably be revealed just how they came into
>>> > being. The overall premise is a perfectly sound scientific world
view.
>>>
>>> Bluh, what? ?Maybe if you'd only watched a few scattered episodes, or
>>> the first two seasons, could you have made this argument (giving a lot
>>> of benefit of the doubt to Baltar's taking advice from his imagination
>>> that turns out to always be right and claims to be an angel from God).
>>> Moving into the fourth season now, that seems to me a pretty silly
>>> claim: ?It's introduced _explicitly_ as religion in the series, and
the
>>> creators are on record as stating that they went out of their way to
try
>>> to integrate spiritual elements into their work (as I saw in some
>>> interviews; I'd have to dig it up if someone thinks this isn't true,
>>> even though we hear about it ever other episode).
>>>
>>> We haven't seen the end, but we're seeing ridiculous implausibilities,
>>> crazy events that aren't explainable rationally, and religion
mentioned
>>> practically every episode. ?The characters who aren't even
particularly
>>> religious have even commented about how they can't deny something
weird
>>> is going on! ?If you need examples, I'll give them, but I wouldn't
think
>>> that anyone actually watching the series would need them.
>>
>> I have watched every episode religiously, as it were. The supernatural
>> elements introduced so far are still nothing that might not turn out
>> to have a scientific explanation (that's what I'm hoping for, of
>> course, since nothing else would make sense). Also, when chronicling
>> an alien culture it's quite natural that this culture will have some
>> religious aspect to it. Remember the B5 episode where the Commander
>> introduces various Earth religions to alien delegations, starting with
>> a representative of atheism? Not that I believe atheism is a religion
>> (I don't), but it demonstrates the point: that alien cultures will
>> realistically have their own religions, and this should sometimes be
>> included in science fiction stories about such alien cultures.
>
> For that matter, reality is significantly biased against science and for
> religion if you look at it this way. The vast majority of the characters
> are religious, and a lot of them place their religion far above
objective
> science. Mysterious and unexplained things happen with alarming
frequency,
> and a lot of mostly rational people start talking about supernatural
> explanations.
>
> I don't think that mysterious happenings and widespread belief in
religion
> should be marks against a work of science fiction. Quite the contrary:
> they're marks of realism and believability.
It's not realistic to me that all (remaining) members of a spacefaring
civilization are religious.
> The cold, sterile Star Trek
> future where everyone is an athiest and nothing ever occurs which cannot
> be explained in four ten-minute segments is, I think, just as
unrealistic
> as their treatment of various physical laws.
>
> (For the specific example of BSG, a lot depends on how these mysteries
are
> ultimately resolved. If it ends up being "god(s) did it", well, there
you
> go. If they're left unexplained then I don't think they indicate any
> statement of the reality of supernatural forces in that universe.)
>
If they're left unexplained the writers will be lynched. Or go on to write
for Lost...
//Niels
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