Saturday, August 05, 2006

Utopias

The Ex let me borrow her copy of Walden Two by B.F. Skinner recently and I made my way through it over the past few days. Interesting book...not necessarily new material nor ideas, but then it was originally printed nearly 60 yaers ago. What is most interesting is the overarching sense of optimism one can read between the lines as the story unfolds. It is obvious by the end of the first few chapters that Skinner is a fan of his imagined subject matter.

And honestly, why not? Why not pursue Utopia in a rational, organized and directed manner? Humanity has been claiming to be traveling that road for nearly 3500 years and more, but honestly how close are we to a world of peace, joy and togetherness? How close are we to getting the species together under a singular vision? Not close at all, when you look at the world objectively.

So why not entertain dreams and new ideas. Obviously the book is a work of fiction and a brief one at that, but its ideas are attractive and I would imagine it provokes some thoughts about possibilities amongst most people who read it. If my guess is right, that in and of itself is a beautiful thing.

While there are some liberties taken and Skinner oversimplifies the process of setting up an idealized, utopian social experiment, the story helps to reassure people of a similar mindset that they are not alone on this rock. Fifty-plus years after its original publication, many of the concerns and criticisms of general society are still applicable, which is telling considering the technological progress that has been made in the meantime.

We are no closer now than we were then, and then was only a few years after the end of World War II. I am in no way saying that the book lays out a road map, but it does beg the question, don't we owe it to ourselves to try something different? If not in a general sense, than in our lives specifically, as individuals? My answer is and has been an overwhelming "yes" in many important ways through the years. I'm not free of society's entanglements, not by a long shot, but I do try to be original and/or objective in how I deal with them.

Maybe that's all we can do...

Posted by Erik @ 8/05/2006 07:38:00 PM