Pessimism: Critiques of Religion and Technology in the Fallout Games

Abstract

Of all the sciences, the one with the most dubious implications is nuclear physics, which explains the nature of physical matter without need for God in its equations, at the same time it permits nuclear weapons of unparalleled destructiveness. Of great cultural significance, the Fallout series of solo-player role-playing computer games produced by several different teams deeply examines the alternative human responses to tragedy, including religion but unsympathetic to it. In the year 2077, a nuclear war between China and the United States caused the collapse of civilization. But that is not a prediction, because it occurs in a different timeline than ours, assuming that American culture remained frozen in the 1950s, as some technologies advanced beyond what was actually achieved. Thus, Fallout is far more than a game, more comparable to great literature, and can be considered either a virtual experience of an alternate reality, or a philosophical analysis of modern civilization. Three of the five versions take place on the west coast, in California, Oregon, and Nevada, while two take place on the east coast, around Washington DC and Boston, including real locations of historical significance, from the Lincoln Memorial, that has become the headquarters for slavers, to the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that has become the ruined façade of a hidden scientific conspiracy. Very little evidence of traditional religion survived the nuclear holocaust, one being a fictional religion that was clearly based on Scientology, and a pathetic Catholic church in a ruined aircraft carrier that does not even possess a cross. Most significant are the Children of Atom who believe that any nuclear explosion produces a new universe of worlds, unseen but offering homes for millions of new intelligent species. Drawing upon the extensive YouTube community of players, who post videos of their own experiences in the Fallout wasteland, this chapter explores virtual environments that stimulate meditation on the limitations of both religion and science.