As the humble starter of the thread, I respectfully ask that you indulge me in this question, and, not to graciously spend your valuable time explaining why it is a bad, invalid, unanswerable or stupid question. I already strongly suspect it may be those things.
To clarify the title, I’m interested in the rules of your universe and its fundamental characteristics. Those that have always been cause for much disagreement and debate (Existence of evil and sorrow, Free will, mortality and many more I forget)
I beg that you do not stray too much from the broader questions, as tempting as it may be to convert it into the 200dth bashfest
Since I am not God, I am probably failing to see the obvious negative here, but I would create everything much the same way it is now, except not go out of my way make it look like I don’t exist. Also, if I’m going to impart my Word unto mankind, I’d make sure they got their science right, because as it is now, it just annoys everyone.
Also, hell, satan, evil, that whole ball of wax… Not so much. While wrath and fear and all that are an effective tool to keep miscreants in line, I’d rather just wink them out of existence and be done with it all; save heaven for the cool people.
I’d keep free will, pitch destiny and fate, and blind myself from how it’s all gonna end. Because, I hate spoilers.
ETA: Also, everyone would have a fucking horn on their head, like a unicorn. 'Cuz I just think that’d be kickass.
The universe from Mario 3. A fair amount of evil and sorrow, but pretty light-hearted, and you can eventually consider yourself victorious over all of it. Plenty of free will, although the manner in which to express it may seem limited from the perspective of this universe. There is mortality, but you can also earn extra lives and can always continue after losing them all (however, at that point, all the levels in the world which you had previously beaten become unbeaten again, though you may have unlocked some more permanent short-cut access past them).
I think I’d spend a bunch of time working with orbits. I’ve always enjoyed orbital mechanics. So, basically, my universe would have a lot of planets in it.
Outside of a few basic rules designed to keep people from harming or oppressing each other, reality would be malleable to the will of sentient beings, like living in a holodeck. Large scale reality would require a consensus to change, while local reality would belong to the closest person. There would be nothing worse than moderate discomfort possible, no death save by the desire of the will of the person doing the dying. There would be no predators or disease, and intelligent creatures would be design to be instinctively moral and civilized. There would be no children, but new beings would be automatically and semi-randomly generated by the universe as fully competent adults, to take the place of those that choose death.
Taking the OP as written, I’m going to assume that I would have all the powers and abilities of an omnipotent being.
First order of business-create a world that grows in size to meet the needs of its population. Second order of business-make everyone immortal. How the hell are humans supposed to advance as a species if they have to start over every hundred years or so?
Third order of business-take a lot of the pain out of childbirth. Babies would come out in five months, six tops, born healthy but a bit smaller.
Fourth order of business-A little less “mystery”, a lot more clarity. If I’m so “all powerful”, it shouldn’t be any bother to me if people want to chat once in a while. Anytime someone falsely claims to speak for me, a red light will appear in the middle of that person’s forehead.
Final order of business-Given an eternity, someone is eventually going to get as good as I am at this game, at which point I plan on retiring.
I like the universe pretty much as it is - I think I’d lower the threshold of intelligence, though - basically, anything from a sparrow or mouse on up could be intelligent. Could be, *not *would be. Say, 1-in-a-million, or scaled by population? Also, all intelligent beings would be able to access limited telepathic communication, to avoid the “Ooops, I ‘accidentaly’ ate a talking pig” excuses - (see "Good & Evil, below). It’d give life more of a Fairy Tale atmosphere.
Also, I’d bring in some of the New Agey ideas, just 'cos it’d be cool if they were true. Psychic powers accessible to anyone with enough will and training, morphogenic fields, pyramid power…
Also, while I’ll still believe Evil is a human construct, I’d want to play along too. Everyone would instantly be able to sense everyone else’s balance of Good and Evil, based on unconscious consensus by all intelligences. So everyone is always judging you, and you are always subconsciously judging everyone else. That’d motivate people to be Good, I think. It’d be impossible to hide the truth, even from yourself. Like a karmic Mark of Cain.
I’d have physical presences scattered around - places where you will always find a you-shaped avatar of me, if you have questions or complaints. I’d like to think of myself as a people person…err, deity. Only, I think one of those avatars will be a giant cow. Just Because.
I wouldn’t care about the citizens of my world any more than I care when Paris is starving in my Civilization games. I mean, sure, I want Paris to do well, but I’m not going to lose any sleep and it’s not going to affect my life if Paris starves, the Mongols invade and destroy it, or I get a speck of dust in my hard drive and never get to finish the game.
I imagine I would be bored all of the time. Running a universe for a god must be like spinning a dime for a human. Sure, it’s mildly amusing to see the dime spin and wobble as it comes to rest, but after about 2 minutes you’ve forgotten all about it because you already know how it’s going to end.
Hot wire all brains together in one database of sorts.
Then everyone would know everything, and be able to continue to learn new things and come up with new ideas.
You could still have your private life, your private fantasies, your personal experiences (private file in brain), but you would also speak every language on earth fluently, have the same knowledge as every doctor, lawyer, politician, military general, teacher, scientist, artist, writer, singer etc.
If I were god, I’d have no need for a universe or its inhabitants. I’d be the party, so to speak, with no needs, wants, or other human attributes. It’s all about me, baby.
Time travel will be possible, but changing the past will be impossible, like in Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love. Visit the past as a tourist and enjoy yourself.
Good one!