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| The Setting; Science and Superstition | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 14 2010, 05:02 PM (203 Views) | |
| dhorn | Mar 14 2010, 05:02 PM Post #1 |
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Bio-Hazard
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For all its promises, science has left a large segment of society with a bitter taste in its mouth. Technological advances in computing power during the late 80's and 90's led to a society reliant on gluttonous data collection and processing as a skeleton for its socio-economic framework. Blatant abuses of scientific data (and the scientific method itself) at the hands of politicians, governments, corporations, and extremists of all flavors have sprung out of the promise of efficiency and technological harmony. People are cataloged and categorized and analyzed with their every action. Political leanings, religious adherences, spending habits, television preferences, internet traffic - you name it, there is a statistic. And in many cases that statistic can be tracked back to a name, a social security number, and additional tidbits of private data. To some, this level of record keeping is justified and useful. For others it is an invasion of privacy. Then there are those that are oblivious to it, or chose to ignore it - at least until it's developed as an iPhone App. Meanwhile, amidst the technological erosion of privacy and individuality, there has grown a not-so-quiet resurgence of spiritualism around the globe. Traditional religious sects thrive in post-modern society while a robust new-age movement has sprung from the ashes of occultism, astrology, and paganism to fill the spiritual void. Philosophers ascribe this trend to a strengthening disillusionment with modern society and its doctrine of moral relativism. Economists suggest it stems from a deteriorating global economic system and the erosion of the middle class in the developing world. Religious scholars suggest that it is related to prophesies of the end-times, while conspiracy theorists would have you believe that it is a movement orchestrated by a one-world government, designed to take our minds off of what's really happening. For better or worse, this is the situation that our characters find themselves in. A world dominated by smart phones, wi-fi and surveillance while at the same time being threatened by fanatics, doomsday prophesy, and suspicion. Here are a couple of important notes to keep in mind: 1. Belief in the supernatural is met with a mixed response in modern society. One one hand, it is chastised as superstitious nonsense, myth, and delusion. On the other hand, it is a real part of peoples' faith and/or fears. 2. Roughly 80-90% of the populace of the U.S. flat out denies the existence of psychics and magic, though 65-75% believe in some form of god(s) and devil(s) as incarnations of good and evil, respectively. 3. Regardless of personal beliefs, actual supernatural events are unheard of. They are quickly explained away by science and 'reason', mis-perception, insanity or hoax. 4. Under the right circumstances, however, supernatural events are manipulated and twisted for the benefit of heretics and religious fanatics or cult leaders. 5. Your characters are different. They have either experienced the supernatural first hand, or have noticed strange 'abilities' in themselves that defy scientific explanations (that they are aware of). 6. With few exceptions, the characters have kept these events and experiences to themselves. |
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