Cognisant
Prolific Member
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- Dec 12, 2009
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Every story ever told has been about the battle between order and chaos, between control and freedom.
There are two visions of utopia, in every fiction the author chooses a side and we see the conflict from that side's perspective, in stories where the author has chosen order/control it is a battle against those who would tear down the safety and security of civilization. This is pretty much every setting where the bad guys are trying to wreck everything, they're not trying to build something, they're not trying to do something, they just want to wreck everything, this is presented as a bad thing and they need to be stopped. The Zerg attacking the Terrans, the literal forces of Chaos attacking the Imperium of Man, the armies of orcs and goblins attacking Middle Earth, the Titans attacking the city in Attack on Titan (maybe, I dunno I haven't really read into it).
In these settings civilization isn't without its flaws but it's always better than the alternative.
Then you have settings where the good guys are the underdogs, they're a ragtag bunch of oddballs and miscreants united against a civilization that just wants to get rid of them, they're the Rebels against the Empire, the team of suave bank robbers against the authorities, the crew of the Firefly or Cowboy Bebop. The underlying philosophical difference here is the belief that freedom is essential for happiness, that there is no utopian civilization but rather utopia exists in the absence of civilization.
Which side are you on and why?
There are two visions of utopia, in every fiction the author chooses a side and we see the conflict from that side's perspective, in stories where the author has chosen order/control it is a battle against those who would tear down the safety and security of civilization. This is pretty much every setting where the bad guys are trying to wreck everything, they're not trying to build something, they're not trying to do something, they just want to wreck everything, this is presented as a bad thing and they need to be stopped. The Zerg attacking the Terrans, the literal forces of Chaos attacking the Imperium of Man, the armies of orcs and goblins attacking Middle Earth, the Titans attacking the city in Attack on Titan (maybe, I dunno I haven't really read into it).
In these settings civilization isn't without its flaws but it's always better than the alternative.
Then you have settings where the good guys are the underdogs, they're a ragtag bunch of oddballs and miscreants united against a civilization that just wants to get rid of them, they're the Rebels against the Empire, the team of suave bank robbers against the authorities, the crew of the Firefly or Cowboy Bebop. The underlying philosophical difference here is the belief that freedom is essential for happiness, that there is no utopian civilization but rather utopia exists in the absence of civilization.
Which side are you on and why?