Talk:Playing God (ethics)

Move to Artificial Selection

should this page be merged with a new page that could be called Artificial Selection? Inferno 05:11, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

The page doesn't mention what has most recently become the biggest thing closest to playing God in the American public's eye: Cloning. Abortion is also considered playing God.

Done! --->| SUB-Z3R0 |<--- 08:55, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Requested move

I would support the move. -Switch ^t 18:34, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I would not support the move. -Level27 ^XXXXX 21:17, 18 December 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.137.169.165 (talk)

I would not support the move. Playing God is different from artificial selection because it isn't limited to selection; it can be levied against any technological advancement, such as space exploration, that is deemed by the accuser to be beyond an ability that humans "ought" to have. -Just hope to help! (talk) 15:08, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Capitalize "God"

The expression "playing God" arises specifically in comparing the actions of an individual with the Judeo-Christian God, doesn't it? Lowercase gods like Zeus and Odin aren't closely tied to things like, say, creating life--as Frankenstein did when playing God. The God in "playing God" seems to usually be capitalized; in Wikipedia itself, most links to this page (as well as non-linked references to "playing God") capitalize "God."

I recommend this article be renamed "Playing God."

Amccune

"Playing" is an adverb, therefore "God" can't be used in the form of a proper noun. It should remain "god".

The word "god" normally implies one of many, IE when talking about the god of one religion as opposed to another, or in a religion with multiple gods. Capitalized "God" refers to a single god, or the general concept of an all powerful "thing", no matter the religion. For example you could talk about what Muslums think about "God", even though they don't call him "God", because in English "God" is more than a name, it refers to any "main god". Sort of like "mother" and "father" can be used as names, although they're not person-specific. In the same way, Einstein talked of "God" as the universe, IE in a non-religous sense (not a personal god). Therefore I think "God" (capitalized) is appropriate. 99.246.109.131 (talk) 21:10, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Tenses

This section seems to be written in the present tense, while the elections are over and done with, aren't they? I can't find a way to rewrite it, though 83.104.37.31 (talk) 12:18, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Off-topic political content

The "Malaysia government Playing God" and "Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe playing God" sections are off-topic.

This article concerns playing god. This, by definition, involves someone assuming the role of a god, or being perceived to do so. The Malaysian and Zimbabwean examples, however, are not like this. Instead, they merely consist of someone mentioning a god.

Therefore, these sections either need to be deleted, or moved to a different article.

— Hyperdeath ^(Talk) 17:01, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. Ilkali (talk) 17:19, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Suggest move to a new Playing God (politics) 118.100.46.81 (talk) 05:36, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

I don't agree. The examples can't be described as "playing god" at all. There's a big difference between claiming the support of a deity, and claiming to be a deity. The examples might be better described as "playing the god card". — Hyperdeath ^(Talk) 09:28, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

The examples were irrelevant and violated WP:NPOV, so I decided to be bold and delete them, although it leaves us with a short article, even for a stub. If someone thinks they were worth keeping, go ahead and revert.67.39.135.2 (talk) 03:10, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Image?

What does the image currently placed have to do with playing god? It is the earth and the moon made into cubes? I am removing it for now until something thinks it is useful. Andrew Colvin (talk) 00:48, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

What is the origin of the phrase "playing God" (or "to play God")?

Who first coined the phrase, and in what source?  The article currently implies, but doesn't specifically declare, that the phrase may have appeared in the film Frankenstein.  Did it, and if so, was this the first appearance of this phrase?  It's important we know from whence the phrase comes.  allixpeeke (talk) 04:21, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

Misquoted and UNDUE promotion of probably-false theory on phrase origin

The article states as fact Philip Ball's theory that "playing God" comes from a different phrase, one that does not include the key idea of play or play-acting, in a censored portion of the 1931 Frankenstein film that was never seen by the public. Considering that "ye shall be as gods" is an iconic Bible phrase used billions of times (in some form) over a much longer period and arguably a closer match to playing God, the idea that a Christian theologian or any literate Westerner needed an obscure part of the movie script to arrive at the phrase is at best Ball's unsupported opinion.

Even if his speculation were correct, Ball's article only traces the actual words "play God" as far back as 1970, to a book by Paul Ramsey. Does Ramsey cite Frankenstein in his book? Ball doesn't say, but this article implicitly SYNTHs that as it is necessary for the phrase-origin narrative to make sense.

Ball is really making 2-3 separate claims: that the phrase is of recent origins; that it comes from censored words in the original script of Frankenstein; and that the phrase was exploited by "bioethics theocons". The first is possible but unsupported, the second implausible but his opinion, and the third carries more weight. Sesquivalent (talk) 21:39, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

I made edits partially addressing this but the article generally needs an overhaul. If and when that happens it's not clear that Ball's article should be mentioned at all. It seems noteworthy only if Ball is right that the phrase was recently coined. If the idea is old then Ball's opposition to it is just one man's opinion. Sesquivalent (talk) 04:34, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Climate Justice

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 3 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): KenDawg123 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: KendallDonna.

— Assignment last updated by KendallDonna (talk) 18:22, 8 March 2024 (UTC)