Generally, cognition is aimed at solving problems, so we are drawn to think of downside risks and conflicts.
As a second order effect, conflict and downsides are more memetically fit. I can easily name media imagining bad results of reprogenetics (Gattaca, Brave New World, Sandel, Habermas, Fukuyama, etc. etc.); harder to name media imagining good results.
As Kaarel notes, genuine utopias are also alien, and our real values largely route through developmental processes (learning more, understanding more, reflecting more, empathizing more, regularizing through childish understanding, etc.).
As a corollary of the previous point, contra the Anna Karenina principle, there’s something that’s much more relatable about pain, suffering, failure, problems, death, conflict, and bad outcomes generally. There’s many ways to fail, but they all have stuff in common. In contrast, consider free creation of a life in general. Or as a metonymy, consider the free creation of a piece of music. There are so many degrees of freedom and an infinite range of structures to express in the music. Cf. Fun theory https://www.lesswrong.com/w/fun-theory.
Hope is painful. Thus, the infinite hopes of children are worn away with age; and for an adult, regaining hope would be painful.
It’s an interesting question. Some thoughts:
Generally, cognition is aimed at solving problems, so we are drawn to think of downside risks and conflicts.
As a second order effect, conflict and downsides are more memetically fit. I can easily name media imagining bad results of reprogenetics (Gattaca, Brave New World, Sandel, Habermas, Fukuyama, etc. etc.); harder to name media imagining good results.
As Kaarel notes, genuine utopias are also alien, and our real values largely route through developmental processes (learning more, understanding more, reflecting more, empathizing more, regularizing through childish understanding, etc.).
As a corollary of the previous point, contra the Anna Karenina principle, there’s something that’s much more relatable about pain, suffering, failure, problems, death, conflict, and bad outcomes generally. There’s many ways to fail, but they all have stuff in common. In contrast, consider free creation of a life in general. Or as a metonymy, consider the free creation of a piece of music. There are so many degrees of freedom and an infinite range of structures to express in the music. Cf. Fun theory https://www.lesswrong.com/w/fun-theory.
Hope is painful. Thus, the infinite hopes of children are worn away with age; and for an adult, regaining hope would be painful.
Cf. “Border Guards” by Greg Egan. https://www.gregegan.net/BORDER/Complete/Border.html