“focus your energy on what you want to see more of” has some distressing implications for the whole genre of dystopian fiction. it suggests that dystopian fiction doesn’t successfully act as a warning, and if anything makes dystopias look cooler, more familiar, more thinkable
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e.g. squid game is ostensibly supposed to be some kind of warning about the dangers of capitalism or inequality or w/e, and also, the basic premise was so cool youtubers immediately began running their own squid games - minus the death obviously
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i wonder if it’s just impossible to keep writing about a distant abstract threat over the course of decades before it stops viscerally registering as a threat at all. warnings should perhaps be saved for imminent threats, that’s how we’re used to threats being
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there might be an interesting market for genuine attempts at utopian fiction; it’s been awhile since i’ve seen SF depict a future that i’d be happy to live in and maybe we could really use some of that these days
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i'm sayin
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Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus
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The Ones Who Misread Omelas
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didn't the creator say something like "i think something like this would be really fun to participate in", i think he's kind of a weirdo. or we are weirdos and he's capable of saying it out loud
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i think it would for sure be a lot of fun to participate in, on some level. you can tell it's by far the most meaningful thing that's happened to any of the participants. they constantly have to make choices that *actually matter*. bliss
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"Minus the death obviously" does all the work here. Most dystopian fiction wouldn't be dystopian without the death.
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I think of the Fight Club adaptation: if you read the book and consider the worst things Tyler does, or the protag's disgusting injuries, they're not in the movie. Makes me think this isn't inevitable but some kind of marketing choice.
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