3 ms·

I don't think it's that we find conflict interesting in and of itself. What we find interesting to read is things that reveal some truth, especially about huma

by rsj_hn 6y ago

I don't think it's that we find conflict interesting in and of itself. What we find interesting to read is things that reveal some truth, especially about human nature, and especially if this truth is non-trivial. The long standing trope is that Utopia is impossible not because of technical limitations, but because of deep truths about human nature. This goes back to the Old Testament -- e.g. the tower of Babel - the first attempt to build a utopia -- dissolved into conflict. Or perhaps the Garden of Eden was the first attempt, and that also broke down. People have been trying to build Utopias ever since, and usually these projects become object lessons revealing some kind of human flaw that is incompatible with utopia. In every utopia there is a snake, and that snake is some aspect of our nature that destroys the utopia or forces us out of it.

taylorius 6y ago
But if we aren't running the utopia (as in Banks' Culture), then a lot of the problems can be side stepped.
- rsj_hn 6y ago
  So I think the point is that utopia is incompatible with human nature, so we would not do well in that environment anymore than an animal wouldn't do well in a zoo. Yes, an external environment can be imposed on people which goes against human nature, but it turns into hell, not heaven. Of course here I am talking about real life. What happens in novels is up to the author, but then readers will detect a false note if they really believe utopia is utopia, so to speak.
hermitcrab 6y ago
>The long standing trope is that Utopia is impossible not because of technical limitations, but because of deep truths about human nature. This goes back to the Old Testament -- e.g. the tower of Babel - the first attempt to build a utopia -- dissolved into conflict. It wasn't internal conflict. It (supposedly) caused by 'God'. From Wikipedia: "God, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world."

by rsj_hn 6y ago

taylorius 6y ago

But if we aren't running the utopia (as in Banks' Culture), then a lot of the problems can be side stepped.

rsj_hn 6y ago
So I think the point is that utopia is incompatible with human nature, so we would not do well in that environment anymore than an animal wouldn't do well in a zoo. Yes, an external environment can be imposed on people which goes against human nature, but it turns into hell, not heaven. Of course here I am talking about real life. What happens in novels is up to the author, but then readers will detect a false note if they really believe utopia is utopia, so to speak.

hermitcrab 6y ago

>The long standing trope is that Utopia is impossible not because of technical limitations, but because of deep truths about human nature. This goes back to the Old Testament -- e.g. the tower of Babel - the first attempt to build a utopia -- dissolved into conflict. It wasn't internal conflict. It (supposedly) caused by 'God'. From Wikipedia: "God, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world."