The Totalitarian Buddhist Who Beat SIM City (2010)

(vice.com)

89 points | by Tomte a day ago ago

22 comments

  • voihannena a day ago

    In case the youtube embedding doesn't work, here's the original video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTJQTc-TqpU

  • dang a day ago

    Discussed at the time:

    The Totalitarian Buddhist Who Beat Sim City - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1352864 - May 2010 (43 comments)

  • MrGinkgo a day ago

    filmmaker John Wilson (host of the HBO Show how to with John Wilson) made a documentary inspired by Magnasanti: https://vimeo.com/238073511

  • neuroelectron 15 hours ago

    It's been a long time since I've last seen the youtube video this references. It had a huge impact on me but in a way I never tried to quantify. It really is a temple in the classical sense of the term.

  • echelon_musk a day ago

    > Are you a practicing Buddhist?

    > Former Buddhist.

    • kgwxd 21 hours ago

      No, I'm not a practicing Buddhist. I've perfected it.

    • asimovfan 20 hours ago

      Former buddhist = didn't get it

  • jimkleiber 20 hours ago

    One of the YouTube comments led me to the VICE interview with the creator, Vincent Ocasla: https://www.vice.com/en/article/q-a-vincent-ocasla-the-22-ye...

    > There are a lot of other problems in the city hidden under the illusion of order and greatness: Suffocating air pollution, high unemployment, no fire stations, schools, or hospitals, a regimented lifestyle – this is the price that these sims pay for living in the city with the highest population. It’s a sick and twisted goal to strive towards. The ironic thing about it is the sims in Magnasanti tolerate it. They don’t rebel, or cause revolutions and social chaos. No one considers challenging the system by physical means since a hyper-efficient police state keeps them in line. They have all been successfully dumbed down, sickened with poor health, enslaved and mind-controlled just enough to keep this system going for thousands of years. 50,000 years to be exact. They are all imprisoned in space and time.

    • CGMthrowaway 18 hours ago

      One of the yt comments led you back to OP's submitted article?

      • jimkleiber 18 hours ago

        Lol, wow, just goes to show that I tend to read the comments more than the article. Caught red-handed and face-palmed.

        On the bright side, I included the paragraph that I found most enlightening (or endarkening?)

        Thank you for letting me know :-/

  • ChrisArchitect 15 hours ago
  • deeThrow94 12 hours ago

    [flagged]

    • tomhow 10 hours ago

      This kind of comment breaks the HN guidelines, particularly these ones...

      Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.

      Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

      Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead.

      https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

      • deeThrow94 8 hours ago

        If you can't learn from a shallow dismissal, that's your problem.

        • tomhow 5 hours ago

          This site is for people who want to engage in curious conversation. It’s not for venting or sneering. The guidelines have served the site well for many years. You don’t need to comment if you don’t want to keep your comments within the guidelines.

  • hnpolicestate a day ago

    The 5 minute city.

    • 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 17 hours ago

      Why with a few more lanes for cars we could eradicate cities entirely and drive all day every day