As we grew more sophisticated over the centuries, our comprehension of the natural forces of the universe also grew, shifting the balance of power from the capricious, unpredictable deities of our beliefs to the increasingly savvy bearers of phenomenological knowledge called scientists. This meant that the natural world, once so mysterious and mystical, could be apprehended as nothing more than a series of mechanical steps, codified and recorded for anyone to read and understand. In our hunger to control the world, we lost our terror and awe of the gods.

But something of the need for that unique mixture remains present. Through the use of science, we have virtually eliminated the possibility of our lives being subject to the whims of meddlesome supernatural forces (even if some choose to believe otherwise). Yet we crave that power of control for ourselves. So we have invented our own new mythologies, creating multitudes of worlds to entertain and amaze ... and we have set ourselves in the places of the gods.

What is this new mythology? Where the original purpose for myth was to educate and delight, its new purpose is to propagate our dreams and fears. Our myths used to tell us about the processes of the world, and how to control them. Now that we have a working description of the natural order, we have moved on to remaking the world to be the way we want it to be, projecting our desires outward as templates, willing our dreams into reality. We do this through the shared mediums of print, television, movies, and most pertinent to this discussion, video games. As our cultural needs have changed from merely understanding existence to exploring our future as a species, so too have our methods of expression. Our focus has shifted from being the playthings of the gods to being gods ourselves, and inventing our own playthings.

Video games give us the ultimate catharsis. Through them, and more importantly, through our avatars, we have the divine ability to experience any circumstance, any situation, and any emotion from any point of view, while keeping ourselves free of total involvement. We use these games as tools to help us understand ourselves better. Human beings are the most fascinating creatures in the world ... especially to other human beings. It's no wonder that our games are full of conflict -- we are constantly trying to understand that aspect of ourselves; the need for violence, for domination. We project these needs into our characters, containing them safely, and controlling them from a distance.