Eberon on 26/4/2001 at 15:20
Just to confirm what some of you have said, Aquinas is the new internet protocol. Obviously, this was put in place so that Page could more easily monitor Earth's communications. Keep in mind, of course, that this is only what the tabloid said. Perhaps there is more to it that we aren't seeing. (I have always been dumbfounded by the Thomas Aquinas reference) <IMG SRC="idea.gif" border="0">
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http://www.deusex-machina.com/img/aquinas.gifAgent Monkeysee on 27/4/2001 at 04:51
Quote:
Originally posted by Erkki:
<STRONG>PS. Where does your name come from?</STRONG>
The phrase "Monkey see, Monkey do" is the short answer.
The long answer is one of the first games I played online (mid '90s) was Quake and I wanted to choose a goofy name that reflected the mindless pleasure of running around gibbing ppl endlessly. I wanted to fit the whole phrase "MonkeyseeMonkeydo" into the name but only "MonkeyseeMon" fit so I truncated it. Monkeysee just kind of stuck as my online handle and I've used variations of it pretty much everywhere. At the time I registered on this forum I was currently playing No One Lives Forever so I was "Special Agent Monkeysee" or just Agent Monkeysee.
Someday I'm going to tell this story to my kids.
And Inity -- MiBs have been a staple of government conspiracy theories for a long time but I imagine the recent (during DX development) success of the MiB movie prolly helped the developers' decision some :)
[ April 27, 2001: Message edited by: Agent Monkeysee ]
Erkki on 27/4/2001 at 13:57
But where does the phrase "Monkey see, monkey do" come from? I've heard it before I think but can't remember where.
frozenman on 27/4/2001 at 19:01
Anyone care to explain an android in the XII century? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Inity on 27/4/2001 at 19:22
may be here in Russia rumours about MiBs weren't well known, so when I was watching the movie, I accepted it "from blank page" just as a sci-fi movie without any base in real world =) It was damn popular in Russia, by the way...
And, even if I've heard something about majestic 12 before playing DX, I never paid much attention to that... so I discovered many surprises lately ;)
Inity on 27/4/2001 at 19:32
And, android in XIII century: it was one of good known _legends_ about Thomas Aquinas and his master, Albert the Great. Albert created the android and Thomas destroyed it. I got this many years ago from one of my multiple books about medieval history, and don't remember which one. I think there should be references about this legend on-line.
May be, just may be, this Albert's android was a first use of a word "android" in application to mechanical being. But I can be wrong with it.
DarkDeus on 27/4/2001 at 21:03
I actually love the intro, it is one of the best presented intro in any games IMHO. The effects and the cut through scenes are very well done giving a movie feel.
The endings, though, they can (maybe should) surely make them a bit longer, and with more effects... IMHO endings should have longer and better quality then normal cutscenes, while Deux Ex's endings looks like some in-game cutscenes...
Agent Monkeysee on 28/4/2001 at 00:06
Quote:
Originally posted by Erkki:
<STRONG>But where does the phrase "Monkey see, monkey do" come from? I've heard it before I think but can't remember where.</STRONG>
Where do any of our phrases come from? The mists of time...
TechImmortal on 1/5/2001 at 06:13
Thomas Aquinas was the founder of what is now known as Thomism - this can be summed up in the phrase "The method of science, the aim of religion."
The basic concept, and I'm really condensing it here, is that understanding of God and his attributes can be arrived at through reason. Most writings about him concentrate on the purely Catholic view - I mean, he IS the Catholic Saint Thomas, after all - but non-Catholics, and particularly gnostics, take it to further mean godly perfection/gnosis can be achieved through methodical techniques. This applies to the Illuminati (read Wilson's books, they are a blast - and it doesn't matter if they are "real" or not) and many gnostic groups, and includes methods similar to, and sometimes the same as, the various systems of yoga. Note Dowd's references to meditation and hatha yoga if you keep conversing with him in the crypt.
In the game, Page figured out a technological means to "godhood" - a high-tech interpretation/perversion of Aquinas' views. Given what I've seen of his writings and life, Aquinas would never have approved.
BTW the concept of the all-seeing god, technologically realized through Page's version of the Panopticon (this is a whole subject on its own) comes from Aquinas. For those of you who want to slog through Aquinas' own statement on the topic:
(
http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc1_50.htm) http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc1_50.htm
The relevance of the name "Aquinas" to the game and the title "Deus Ex" should now be clear. :)
Disclaimer: I am not Catholic, and frankly believe that Aquinas was lucky (he was brilliant and well-liked and of noble birth) to have been canonized when, if you read between the lines, and consider his ecstatic states, that he could just as easily have been branded a gnostic. As it was, there was some argument, as I recall, about him almost being branded a rationalist. No flames, please, I'm just relating his works to the game because people are asking.
[ May 01, 2001: Message edited by: TechImmortal ]
