Post by Denethor on Apr 2, 2010 14:31:18 GMT -5
OK, here's something a bit interesting, might be worth discussing. First, a funny link (this actually does relate to the topic):
www.cracked.com/article_18475_6-horrifying-implications-awesome-fantasy-movie-universes.html
OK, so the link is to an article about six of the all-time most popular fantasy universes, giving a basic description for each with thoughts on why it would suck to live there. Got me thinking.
So, what about the real world? You know, the one we're living in right now that is essentially the product of the visions of people a generation or two ago, and because of the speed-up of change and technology found in modern times, also the product of our own visions of say five years ago? We all pretty well know what does (and doesn't) suck about our real world, in general and in our own particular lives. Most of the time, we think it's because of limitations on what we can do: we might be imagining a utopia, but there are practical limits. Or we blame others: I want a great world, but that other guy over there wants something else, and he has more media power/ political influence/ money/ whatever than me, so his desire to get rich or bed women or whatever is acing out my desire for a better world (of course, in that scenario I never look at my own desire to get rich, bed women, or sit on the couch and drink beer rather than working for a better world, but that's part of that scenario). What we never think to blame are mistakes in our very thinking of what would make the world a better place. I got to wondering, if the world is what we make it, and even our fictional utopias and fantasy universes suck, what does that say about what we create for ourselves in actuality?
One problem I can see is disagreement: we don't all agree on what would constitute a better world. If we could really pick out of any conceivable reality, there are certainly those who would pick Avatar's Pandora as a place to live (the early speech about its admitted rampant suckiness notwithstanding!). I can tell you that I, however, with my dislike of constantly batting away night-flying bloodsucking insects, would definitely be reaching for the DEET before traveling there. And it wouldn't be long before I started a fistfight among the tree-huggers by smacking one of those little glowing things that float around under the sacred trees, which would doubtless drive me crazy by constantly flying between me and my book (let's not even get started on the wood pulp!). In Middle-Earth, I'd be demanding the Internet, or at the very least, lots more reading material than I saw mentioned in Tolkien. So there, disagreement already. Disagreements that arise even before any mention of the Big Four (politics, economics, religion, sexuality). Or, for that matter, the other guy's (or my) desire to get rich, bed women, or sit on the couch drinking beer.
But what this really got me wondering was whether the human limitation is actually a bit more deep-seated than that. Perhaps we are limited in our capacity to envision that better world. Since imagination appears to know no bounds up to the point of schizophrenia, I doubt it's because we can't picture the right things. The problem doesn't appear to be with the tools of imagination, which are unlimited, or with human ability, which is more limited than imagination but still pretty amazing.
No, the problem appears to be simply that the majority of people simply don't know what the hell they want. Sure, they want general things, like more economic security or more fun or for life to simply be easier. But they can't say in what way they want these things, or what they would look like, or what specific improvements they would like to see, let alone how to get there.
I put this in the "magic-y" section of the board because that is more the kind of speculation I am trying to discuss. I'm not trying to start a political or moral discussion (I rarely bother doing that, since I can be guaranteed at least one of those a day somewhere in my life; really, those topics crop up like weeds). I'm more thinking along the magic-y lines (taking any kind of directed change as an inherently magical act, whether it involves candles and rituals and prayer or the like or not). One of the things about magic is that for it to be effective, you have to know exactly what you're aiming for. One would think that would be obvious, and "magic tomes", grimoires, and lesson plans must think so too since they rarely address it, but it is amazing how many people out there don't seem to know it. Now, it is one thing when someone who claims to be involved in the mystical or magical doesn't know it, that's a damned shame, but this silly Cracked article got me thinking about the fact that the bulk of the population - which doesn't conceive of itself as magical - doesn't know it either.
Wondering if anyone else has any thoughts.
www.cracked.com/article_18475_6-horrifying-implications-awesome-fantasy-movie-universes.html
OK, so the link is to an article about six of the all-time most popular fantasy universes, giving a basic description for each with thoughts on why it would suck to live there. Got me thinking.
So, what about the real world? You know, the one we're living in right now that is essentially the product of the visions of people a generation or two ago, and because of the speed-up of change and technology found in modern times, also the product of our own visions of say five years ago? We all pretty well know what does (and doesn't) suck about our real world, in general and in our own particular lives. Most of the time, we think it's because of limitations on what we can do: we might be imagining a utopia, but there are practical limits. Or we blame others: I want a great world, but that other guy over there wants something else, and he has more media power/ political influence/ money/ whatever than me, so his desire to get rich or bed women or whatever is acing out my desire for a better world (of course, in that scenario I never look at my own desire to get rich, bed women, or sit on the couch and drink beer rather than working for a better world, but that's part of that scenario). What we never think to blame are mistakes in our very thinking of what would make the world a better place. I got to wondering, if the world is what we make it, and even our fictional utopias and fantasy universes suck, what does that say about what we create for ourselves in actuality?
One problem I can see is disagreement: we don't all agree on what would constitute a better world. If we could really pick out of any conceivable reality, there are certainly those who would pick Avatar's Pandora as a place to live (the early speech about its admitted rampant suckiness notwithstanding!). I can tell you that I, however, with my dislike of constantly batting away night-flying bloodsucking insects, would definitely be reaching for the DEET before traveling there. And it wouldn't be long before I started a fistfight among the tree-huggers by smacking one of those little glowing things that float around under the sacred trees, which would doubtless drive me crazy by constantly flying between me and my book (let's not even get started on the wood pulp!). In Middle-Earth, I'd be demanding the Internet, or at the very least, lots more reading material than I saw mentioned in Tolkien. So there, disagreement already. Disagreements that arise even before any mention of the Big Four (politics, economics, religion, sexuality). Or, for that matter, the other guy's (or my) desire to get rich, bed women, or sit on the couch drinking beer.
But what this really got me wondering was whether the human limitation is actually a bit more deep-seated than that. Perhaps we are limited in our capacity to envision that better world. Since imagination appears to know no bounds up to the point of schizophrenia, I doubt it's because we can't picture the right things. The problem doesn't appear to be with the tools of imagination, which are unlimited, or with human ability, which is more limited than imagination but still pretty amazing.
No, the problem appears to be simply that the majority of people simply don't know what the hell they want. Sure, they want general things, like more economic security or more fun or for life to simply be easier. But they can't say in what way they want these things, or what they would look like, or what specific improvements they would like to see, let alone how to get there.
I put this in the "magic-y" section of the board because that is more the kind of speculation I am trying to discuss. I'm not trying to start a political or moral discussion (I rarely bother doing that, since I can be guaranteed at least one of those a day somewhere in my life; really, those topics crop up like weeds). I'm more thinking along the magic-y lines (taking any kind of directed change as an inherently magical act, whether it involves candles and rituals and prayer or the like or not). One of the things about magic is that for it to be effective, you have to know exactly what you're aiming for. One would think that would be obvious, and "magic tomes", grimoires, and lesson plans must think so too since they rarely address it, but it is amazing how many people out there don't seem to know it. Now, it is one thing when someone who claims to be involved in the mystical or magical doesn't know it, that's a damned shame, but this silly Cracked article got me thinking about the fact that the bulk of the population - which doesn't conceive of itself as magical - doesn't know it either.
Wondering if anyone else has any thoughts.