Anyone ever wonder . . . ?

[Elok]

Re: mistrusting the government, it depends on the source. I can't speak for all Americans, but I'd say it's typical for one of us to trust a politician of his own party far more than the opposition, and to depend on a partisan news source to "get the facts right." Why do you ask?

Aeson, I'll get back to you later.

[Morgan Everett]

Re: mistrusting the government, it depends on the source. I can't speak for all Americans, but I'd say it's typical for one of us to trust a politician of his own party far more than the opposition, and to depend on a partisan news source to "get the facts right." Why do you ask?

Aeson, I'll get back to you later.

I'm interested in how people from different places around the world get different points of view.

In France I'd say 90 percent of the population believes the US government, at the very least, took advantage of the situation and let it happen.

[Elok]

That POV does exist, but it's far from a majority view. Maybe a minority of Democrats feel that way. I personally favor the simpler explanation that the Bush administration was just incompetent. Plenty of evidence for that.

[rod87]

Coming back to the original topic, you might look at it the scientific/military way. I find the problem is not so much the means to do it, but rather why do it.

Humanity has at last come into contact with an alien species that's not just an "animal" in the traditional sense, but also one that after some research seems to be on the verge of sentience. How valuable can that be to biologists? Neurologists? Anthropologists?

I might sound too nerdy here but, wasn't captain Picard, in Star Trek: The Next Generation actually *against* wiping out the Borg after being rehabilitated? You might argue his grasp on reality had been compromised, but then again, he's right in a way; who are you to judge another species' right to exist?

And then there's the military applications. You land on an alien world, and find an indigenous species you can somehow, under a specific set of circumstances, tame to do your bidding. This species also has the unthinkable ability of ripping through any kind of armor ever designed. Would you renounce the chance of using it as a weapon, either in self defense or offensively, by devoting your efforts to wiping it out? If anything you would do it in order to deny other factions from doing it.

[Buster Crabbe's Uncle]

There's a very old thread here somewhere or the AC archives, roughly circa 2002, were someone was talking about a terraformers custom faction (a popular concept around then, though I've only seen one or two completed and none with faction graphics) and much related talk about if only they could add victory conditions and have a "Kill Planet" victory. I think that's (morally) terrible, but would still be a good addition to the game.

These days, I bet Yitzi could be talked into adding something like that to his modding options to-do list for his patch...

(Somebody ought to dig around for old Terraformer factions and make the best some graphics, come to think of it.)

[Elok]

I really think there should be a "kill planet" option. The horrid thing's been attacking me all game, why do I want to mind-meld with it for the rest of time?

But the psychological strain of worm attacks, even without any mind-trick postulates, would do much to explain the irrationality of the human actors. The whole human race has PTSD, no wonder they're so ornery.

[Morgan Everett]

I really think there should be a "kill planet" option. The horrid thing's been attacking me all game, why do I want to mind-meld with it for the rest of time?

I would say.. Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner.