Games of Divinity

Games of Divinity PDF Author: White Wolf Games Studio
Publisher: White Wolf Publishing
ISBN: 9781588466594
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description

Games of Divinity

Games of Divinity PDF Author: White Wolf Games Studio
Publisher: White Wolf Publishing
ISBN: 9781588466594
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Evolution, Games, and God

Evolution, Games, and God PDF Author: Martin A. Nowak
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674075536
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
According to the reigning competition-driven model of evolution, selfish behaviors that maximize an organism’s reproductive potential offer a fitness advantage over self-sacrificing behaviors—rendering unselfish behavior for the sake of others a mystery that requires extra explanation. Evolution, Games, and God addresses this conundrum by exploring how cooperation, working alongside mutation and natural selection, plays a critical role in populations from microbes to human societies. Inheriting a tendency to cooperate, argue the contributors to this book, may be as beneficial as the self-preserving instincts usually thought to be decisive in evolutionary dynamics. Assembling experts in mathematical biology, history of science, psychology, philosophy, and theology, Martin Nowak and Sarah Coakley take an interdisciplinary approach to the terms “cooperation” and “altruism.” Using game theory, the authors elucidate mechanisms by which cooperation—a form of working together in which one individual benefits at the cost of another—arises through natural selection. They then examine altruism—cooperation which includes the sometimes conscious choice to act sacrificially for the collective good—as a key concept in scientific attempts to explain the origins of morality. Discoveries in cooperation go beyond the spread of genes in a population to include the spread of cultural transformations such as languages, ethics, and religious systems of meaning. The authors resist the presumption that theology and evolutionary theory are inevitably at odds. Rather, in rationally presenting a number of theological interpretations of the phenomena of cooperation and altruism, they find evolutionary explanation and theology to be strongly compatible.

Toying with God

Toying with God PDF Author: Nikki Bado-Fralick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
"Written with verve and a healthy dollop of humor, Toying with God examines the sometimes zany world of religious games and dolls, from pre-history to today. Packed with examples that add immeasurably to readers' knowledge of religious trivia, this entertaining romp is an insightful reflection upon one of the more curious intersections of popular culture and spirituality. Have we humans blended fun with spirituality for good or for ill? And what does all of this say about our insatiable need for entertainment?" --Book Jacket.

The Books of Sorcery 5

The Books of Sorcery 5 PDF Author: Alan Alexander
Publisher: White Wolf Pub
ISBN: 9781588464477
Category : Games
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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The Games of Gods and Man

The Games of Gods and Man PDF Author: Klaus-Peter Köpping
Publisher: Lit Verlag
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
The problems of games and play, a basic ontological category of thought and action, have long occupied culture historians like Huizinga and Caillois as well as mainstream modern philosophers from Heidegger to Gadamer. The present volume traces the concept of the ludic in its generative as well as in its violent and destructive potential, and relates the traditional concepts developed in particular by Romantic aesthetics in drama and poetry to those developed in modern times in literary genres by Bakhtin with the emphasis on the tropes of the performing body. The great variety of theoretical frameworks is grounded in and connected to empirical data on ritual processes and mythic structures across a wide spectrum of ethnographic evidence. The collected essays connect notions of the ludic as framed performance (proposed by Bateson and Goffman) with the ludic as "free play" with the potential to possess the player, crossing disciplinary boundaries and discourses from theatre-studies to anthropology. Forms of ritual processes, of mythic games and of cultural reflexivity, together with intriguing and universal tropes of myth and literature such as the figures of the trickster and the fool, are treated in cross-cultural perspectives. These include Indian, Greek and Germanic mythologies, Indian ritual dance and prophetic theatre plays in Ancient Israel, Bushmen syncretic religious services, the diverse forms of self-reflexive play among Brazilian Kayapo Indians, and the plays and games among the inmates of concentration camps. The volume should appeal to students of anthropology, of theatre and cultural studies, as well as to culture historians and philosophers concerned with the interface between ritual and play, or player and audience, and the larger issue of the rules of games and the freedom of the hermeneutic interpretation of text through performances.

Divine Games

Divine Games PDF Author: Steven J. Brams
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262551454
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
A game-theoretical analysis of interactions between a human being and an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being highlights the inherent unknowability of the latter's superiority. In Divine Games, Steven Brams analyzes games that a human being might play with an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being. Drawing on game theory and his own theory of moves, Brams combines the analysis of thorny theological questions, suggested by Pascal's wager (which considers the rewards and penalties associated with belief or nonbelief in God) and Newcomb's problem (in which a godlike being has near omniscience) with the analysis of several stories from the Hebrew Bible. Almost all of these stories involve conflict between God or a surrogate and a human player; their representation as games raises fundamental questions about God's superiority. In some games God appears vulnerable (after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit in defiance of His command), in other games his actions seem morally dubious (when He subjects Abraham and Job to extreme tests of their faith), and in still other games He has a propensity to hold grudges (in preventing Moses from entering the Promised Land and in undermining the kingship of Saul). If the behavior of a superior being is indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human being, his existence would appear undecidable, or inherently unknowable. Consequently, Brams argues that keeping an open mind about the existence of a superior being is an appropriate theological stance.

The Divinity Game

The Divinity Game PDF Author: Paul Dethroe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Six tales of video games, alien invasion and murder.

Gaming and the Divine

Gaming and the Divine PDF Author: Frank G. Bosman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429018681
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
This book formulates a new theological approach to the study of religion in gaming. Video games have become one of the most important cultural artefacts of modern society, both as mediators of cultural, social, and religious values and in terms of commercial success. This has led to a significant increase in the critical analysis of this relatively new medium, but theology as an academic discipline is noticeably behind the other humanities on this subject. The book first covers the fundamentals of cultural theology and video games. It then moves on to set out a Christian systematic theology of gaming, focussing on creational theology, Christology, anthropology, evil, moral theology, and thanatology. Each chapter introduces case studies from video games connected to the specific theme. In contrast to many studies which focus on online multiplayer games, the examples considered are largely single player games with distinct narratives and ‘end of game’ moments. The book concludes by synthesising these themes into a new theology of video games. This study addresses a significant aspect of contemporary society that has yet to be discussed in any depth by theologians. It is, therefore, a fantastic resource for any scholar engaging with the religious aspects of digital and popular culture.

Encyclopedia of Video Games [3 volumes]

Encyclopedia of Video Games [3 volumes] PDF Author: Mark J. P. Wolf
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440870209
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 1365

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Book Description
Now in its second edition, the Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming is the definitive, go-to resource for anyone interested in the diverse and expanding video game industry. This three-volume encyclopedia covers all things video games, including the games themselves, the companies that make them, and the people who play them. Written by scholars who are exceptionally knowledgeable in the field of video game studies, it notes genres, institutions, important concepts, theoretical concerns, and more and is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of video games of its kind, covering video games throughout all periods of their existence and geographically around the world. This is the second edition of Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, originally published in 2012. All of the entries have been revised to accommodate changes in the industry, and an additional volume has been added to address the recent developments, advances, and changes that have occurred in this ever-evolving field. This set is a vital resource for scholars and video game aficionados alike.

Winged Faith

Winged Faith PDF Author: Tulasi Srinivas
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231149336
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
The Sathya Sai global civil religious movement incorporates Hindu and Muslim practices, Buddhist, Christian, and Zoroastrian influences, and "New Age"-style rituals and beliefs. Shri Sathya Sai Baba, its charismatic and controversial leader, attracts several million adherents from various national, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. In a dynamic account of the Sathya Sai movement's explosive growth, Winged Faith argues for a rethinking of globalization and the politics of identity in a religiously plural world. This study considers a new kind of cosmopolitanism located in an alternate understanding of difference and contestation. It considers how acts of "sacred spectating" and illusion, "moral stakeholding" and the problems of community are debated and experienced. A thrilling study of a transcultural and transurban phenomenon that questions narratives of self and being, circuits of sacred mobility, and the politics of affect, Winged Faith suggests new methods for discussing religion in a globalizing world and introduces readers to an easily critiqued yet not fully understood community.