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https://thoughtsandquestions108.blogspot.com - A shock to the biological system, and a rapture of the heart… BioShock is more than just a highly critically acclaimed video game. It’s also a conduit for political statement and philosophical revelation. Although the game essentially serves as a wonderful first-person-shooter with emergent gameplay and immense level design allowing for expansive exploration, the gamer is also invited into an experience which is very much of the intellect.The Godless Garden of Eden.The aptly named ‘Rapture’ is a manmade underwater city which was, at the time of its construction in 1946, intended to be an isolated utopia for society’s elite to live, flourish and thrive. Since they’d be doing so with their own private economy, with no contact with the outside world allowed, the idea was that they were free of government control and what is referred to as the ‘petty morality’ of the surface world. The residents could basically do as they please, without any consideration for what’s ‘right’ and what’s ‘wrong’.As scientific progress rapidly developed thanks to the brilliant scientists living within Rapture, so did the discovery of a genetic material known as ADAM (created by sea slugs on the ocean floor), which is stored in what are known as EVE Hypos throughout the games. It’s a substance which allowed the inhabitants of Rapture to alter their DNA to give them super-human powers. With no social stability, no governing body to keep the usage of the ADAM regulated (or prohibited), and the inevitable growth of class distinctions, the consumption of ADAM by the rapturous and individualistic inhabitants became excessive and dangerously exploited, eventually resulting in a civil war. And so began the turbulent decline of so-called utopia, the city descending into an ironic dystopian world, the residents trapped and forever doomed to one another thanks to the forbidden fruit both they and the Garden of Eden’s two famous residents consumed. Original sin. The fall of man. They ate the forbidden fruit of knowledge of good and evil, desperately, perhaps, wanting to know the difference between the two concepts. Instead, they doom themselves to an eternity of ignorance in Hell.Once a doctor of medicine dedicating his life to helping others, the now mad doctor J.S. Steinman, a character the gamer faces in the game, takes pleasure in watching the death and misery of others.Having no choice but to enter Rapture in seeking refuge after his plane crashed into the ocean, Jack, the protagonist who the gamer controls, navigates through Rapture in the year 1960, fighting through waves upon waves of ADAM-obsessed, deranged aggressors, with hope of eventually escaping. History of Rapture, its associated figures and the nature of its sociological deterioration can be learned by collecting and listening to audio diaries picked up throughout the quest.Andrew Ryan.“It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else.”– Andrew Ryan.“We all make choices. But in the end, our choices make us.”– Andrew Ryan.“A man chooses. A slave obeys.”– Andrew Ryan.We have a far right republican in the White House, as well as a conservative in number ten Downing Street, both of whom are currently rather polarizing leaders and uninterested in the redistribution of wealth. So I thought it would be an appropriate time to talk about the architect and creator of Rapture, Andrew Ryan.Ryan, an idealist seeking to avoid scrutiny from the government and other institutions alike, retains an enormous hatred for people who are of left-wing political viewpoints, as well as all things religious and philanthropic. He believes wholeheartedly in capitalism and that a man who works hard is ‘entitled to the sweat of his brow’ and should be allowed the opportunity to prosper without interference, which is precisely the reason why he hates theft so much – he believes it goes against the founding principles of Rapture. Ryan created an unregulated, superficial, selfish and narcissistic society, thanks to his objectivist ideals that formed it, as well as the lack of others, namely, for example, loving thy neighbour.Political dissonance is another thing Ryan forbids. Sophia Lamb (the main antagonist of BioShock 2) was initially invited to Rapture by Ryan but was later imprisoned by him as her politics dramatically clashed with his. She cares deeply about love and affection for one’s fellow man and woman, her passionate views on socialism mirroring closely those of Karl Marx.“For every choice, there is an echo. With each act, we change the world. One man chose a city, free of law and God. But others chose corruption. And so the city fell. If the world were reborn in your image, would it be paradise, or perdition?”– Sophia Lamb.Ryan’s objectivist ideals are undoubtedly what are most important to him, and they are what define his character better than anything else. It is no coincidence that ‘Andrew Ryan’ is a perfect anagram of ‘We R Ayn Rand’, which isn’t at all surprising when you realize that the game is loosely based on Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged (1957). In the novel, Rand explores what she refers to as the ‘morality of rational self-interest’. So focussed on all that’s external to the mind, neglecting one’s conscience, can be a dangerous thing indeed. Refusing to recognize the nature of a human spirit, not acknowledging the need we all have for compassion and empathy, and failing to appreciate that everyone you meet is fighting a great battle you know nothing about, all contribute to a decidedly doomed life. Moral truths are formed through one’s love for their fellow man and woman, and without this important capacity for subjectivity – this force born from kindness and compassion given to others – we’d lose our minds. Go crazy. Become lonely, desperate, scared and only God knows what else.BioShock allows the gamer to navigate through the collapsed, dystopian yet beautiful areas of the city of Rapture, making choices and morally-charged decisions throughout what is both a fascinating and terrifying journey.