Defining utopia and dystopia

“Human life, at its best, is wonderful. I’m asking you to create something greater: life that is truly humane.”

—Letter from Utopia (2008)

We started off this semester with a selection of readings surrounding the themes of utopia and dystopia, and the energy we’ve landed on seems to be one of skepticism and discouragement. Is utopia even possible? Is the discussion on utopia just idle speculation, a distraction from real issues, or worst of all, a potential excuse for horrific acts?

My personal belief is that the utopia concept should not be viewed as a static, prescriptive blueprint for an idealized society, but rather as a dynamic tool for imagining how our current world can be better. On the other end, the concept of dystopia should be a critique of our current societal conditions and a warning about the direction we’re heading. We can use these two definitions as critical tools to engage with the world we live in, identifying harmful trajectories whilst envisioning a fluid, evolving, better future.

Part of why I believe our definitions must reflect an adaptive framework rather than a concrete definition, is because I believe we can never truly know what an absolute utopia is — we can only imagine something better than right now. The fact that utopias are elusive and illusory in most of our literature so far has contributed to more pessimism about our current world, as though it implies a utopian future is an impossible ideal. I would argue that it’s not that a “true” utopia can never exist, but rather that it would be utterly incomprehensible to us at this point in time. Our current world likely far surpasses a utopia someone might have imagined a thousand years ago, only because they couldn’t know any better. Life is overwhelmingly beautiful, but still there is work to do.

Notably, As We May Think by Vannevar Bush was the reading that most resonated with me, especially as we consider utopias in relation to design and technology. Bush envisions a future world where man has access to all knowledge ever acquired by the human race, avenues to effortlessly access and traverse this information, and in doing so, augment the human intellect in ways never before imagined. Today we live in that reality, a life so sublime that it was truly beyond comprehension for most. Most importantly, Bush’s efforts in imagining it is what laid the groundwork for thinkers and creators to actually bring that vision to life. This is the power of imagining utopia and endeavoring towards it.

We must remember how good things can get. Ultimately, the existing beauty in life is what secures my belief in utopia, or at least, the pursuit of one. I love how philosopher Nick Bostrum describes it in Letter from Utopia (2008):

“Have you ever known a moment of bliss? On the rapids of inspiration, maybe, where your hands were guided by a greater force to trace the shapes of truth and beauty? Or perhaps you found such a moment in the ecstasy of love? Or in a glorious success achieved with good friends? Or in splendid conversation on a vine-overhung terrace one star-appointed night? Or perhaps there was a song or a melody that smuggled itself into your heart, setting it alight with kaleidoscopic emotion…

Do you not feel it, the touch of the possible? You have witnessed the potential for a higher life: you hold the fading proof in your hands. Don’t throw it away. In the attic of your mind, reserve a drawer for the notion of a higher state of being, and in the furnace of your heart keep at least one aspiring ember alive.”

No one can deny the terrible things going on in our world right now, but I believe it is our duty to remember how good life can be, for it is our only path forward — and this is the path to utopia. “Utopia is the hope that the scattered fragments of good that we come across from time to time in our lives can be put together, one day, to reveal the shape of a new kind of life.”