Somewhere on this site, there’s an article on writing about the Singularity that offers the suggestion of trying to imagine the experience of having lived in the resulting world for some period of time, rather than just the experience of the immediate transition to that world. The idea being that something that may seem utopian when you think about the transition might prove obviously unsatisfactory when you think about the continued experience.
I think this scenario demonstrates the corresponding effect for dystopias.
Yes, I appreciate that breaking up with a long-time committed partner in favor of a new relationship that makes you happier than you ever were before—especially when you aren’t given a choice in the matter—feels really awful in the immediate aftermath.
But I think it would be difficult to keep that same sense of dystopia when writing about this world six months later, once everyone has gotten used to the idea.
Somewhere on this site, there’s an article on writing about the Singularity that offers the suggestion of trying to imagine the experience of having lived in the resulting world for some period of time, rather than just the experience of the immediate transition to that world. The idea being that something that may seem utopian when you think about the transition might prove obviously unsatisfactory when you think about the continued experience.
I think this scenario demonstrates the corresponding effect for dystopias.
Yes, I appreciate that breaking up with a long-time committed partner in favor of a new relationship that makes you happier than you ever were before—especially when you aren’t given a choice in the matter—feels really awful in the immediate aftermath.
But I think it would be difficult to keep that same sense of dystopia when writing about this world six months later, once everyone has gotten used to the idea.