Optimistic Idealism. Dead? Boring?

[Trish]

It could be written as a slice of life type story. I can imagine many ways to make it somewhat exciting. Everything doesn't have to be about death and explosions all the time.

How about something like this:
Markise is attending the utopian world faire, he wants to find a partner for a great dance among all the women of the city. Can he find the right partner in time? Follow Markise in a world of richness and splendour as he meets all sorts of unique women and try to date them in the backdrop of floating sky palaces and self-driving flying taxis.

The above becomes a story of if he can find the right partner for the dance in the right time. As the story progresses we meet many strange and even eccentric women and characters who have their live's needs fulfilled and who focus on their own character development as well as some strange or unique hobbies/interests. One such hobby could be to collect stones from all the highest mountain tops in the galaxy, and what they may have seen.

Sure, but is that a Utopia? He doesn't have everything he needs if he's longing for a partner, does he? And why does he want one? Prestige? Approval? Companionship? All of those things suggest that his needs are not met. If there are humans in a utopia - it's not a utopia. Someone is always going to covet something someone else has and fuck it up for everyone.

Of course things don't always have to be about death and explosions (pretty big jump from utopias are boring), but conflict is what drives a story. Even in slice of life, there is something they need to do, get to, something. Even if it's just going to the store to get toothpaste. Even if it's just emotional or growth related, there's still something more.

 

[Madman Starryteller]

Sure, but is that a Utopia? He doesn't have everything he needs if he's longing for a partner, does he? And why does he want one? Prestige? Approval? Companionship? All of those things suggest that his needs are not met. If there are humans in a utopia - it's not a utopia. Someone is always going to covet something someone else has and fuck it up for everyone.

Of course things don't always have to be about death and explosions (pretty big jump from utopias are boring), but conflict is what drives a story. Even in slice of life, there is something they need to do, get to, something. Even if it's just going to the store to get toothpaste. Even if it's just emotional or growth related, there's still something more.

Maybe he doesn't specifically need a partner, but would have fun dancing with someone?

You're right, though, that with humans a utopia wouldn't last long.

Can't something be considered a utopia even if there are still some basic needs that aren't fully resolved, such as love/companionship/travel? I think one can still have a utopia even with flawed people in it. As long as those people don't constantly kill each other...

The utopia is the society at large, not necessarily that everyone must have a great time, right?

I don't know.

 

[Louanne Learning]

I think one can still have a utopia even with flawed people in it.

I think so, too. I mean, how do we define "idealistic" or "perfect?" It doesn't have to mean there is no suffering, but that people are comforted in their suffering. Having all of one's needs met, whatever those needs might be.

 

[Naomasa298]

He went to visit Utopia. Everything was wonderful. Then he saw how long the queues for the toilets were, and he realised Utopia was an illusion.

 

[Pyroglyphian]

Because Utopias are boring. If everyone is happy and has everything they need, what is there to write about?

The anthropologist David Graeber observed that societies throughout history exhibit a dialectic between the everyday life of a people and their mythology. Peoples who enjoy a relatively peaceful and free existence often develop mythologies that are quite the opposite – full of warring gods and malevolent spirits.

The same may be true for us. In the ‘West’, we live largely docile lives. The violence we are all capable of is mostly confined to our myths – our novels, films, video games, etc. There’s a long-running discussion about the influence of violence in media on behaviour; I subscribe to the view that these forms provide a relatively safe outlet through which people can project the darker aspects of the psyche.

By contrast, if I were living in a violent, oppressive society in which every day was conflict, fear, and anxiety, I wouldn’t be looking for more of the same in my leisure reading. Utopian fiction would, at that point, become far more compelling – perhaps a little like the Bible. I can understand how, if you believe your life is ‘nasty, brutish and short’, reading about Heaven could be appealing. It is relevant, perhaps, that in societies where social support has advanced considerably over the last century, religious fundamentalism has retreated.

This is not to suggest that the apparent dearth of utopian fiction exists because we’re already living in a utopia. But, as @Heartlet Happer pointed out previously, in some respects many of us do enjoy relatively comfortable lives. So long as we’re ‘free’ to buy a bigger TV than our neighbour, and so long as our favourite coffee shop doesn’t run out of skinny decaf lattes with hazelnut milk, all appears well in the Universe.

 

[Stuart Dren]

The anthropologist David Graeber observed that societies throughout history exhibit a dialectic between the everyday life of a people and their mythology. Peoples who enjoy a relatively peaceful and free existence often develop mythologies that are quite the opposite – full of warring gods and malevolent spirits.

The same may be true for us. In the ‘West’, we live largely docile lives. The violence we are all capable of is mostly confined to our myths – our novels, films, video games, etc. There’s a long-running discussion about the influence of violence in media on behaviour; I subscribe to the view that these forms provide a relatively safe outlet through which people can project the darker aspects of the psyche.

By contrast, if I were living in a violent, oppressive society in which every day was conflict, fear, and anxiety, I wouldn’t be looking for more of the same in my leisure reading. Utopian fiction would, at that point, become far more compelling – perhaps a little like the Bible. I can understand how, if you believe your life is ‘nasty, brutish and short’, reading about Heaven could be appealing. It is relevant, perhaps, that in societies where social support has advanced considerably over the last century, religious fundamentalism has retreated.

I like this take. Though I don't know if I would consider the Bible, or many religious texts, to be utopian fiction, unless we're referring to post-rapture? Otherwise if you changed everyone today so that they humbly embraced their suffering, but still suffered horrible fates preventable or unavoidable, I wouldn't call that a utopia. Eh, that's getting sidetracked, though.

The same may be true for us. In the ‘West’, we live largely docile lives. The violence we are all capable of is mostly confined to our myths – our novels, films, video games, etc. There’s a long-running discussion about the influence of violence in media on behaviour; I subscribe to the view that these forms provide a relatively safe outlet through which people can project the darker aspects of the psyche.

That's astounding when you think about it, if you agree that there is an indelible gravitation towards violence deep in the human psyche. I think there is, but I don't wholesale condemn it—it's who we are, and we might be the most interesting thing that will ever happen in reality. Being able to compartmentalize but still mostly satisfy an inclination, one so severe and innate by just... reading or writing a book, or being John Halo for an afternoon. Good grief.