1
00:00:06,953 --> 00:00:09,856
Have you ever tried to picture
an ideal world?

2
00:00:09,856 --> 00:00:12,676
One without war, poverty, or crime?

3
00:00:12,676 --> 00:00:14,636
If so, you're not alone.

4
00:00:14,636 --> 00:00:19,206
Plato imagined an enlightened
republic ruled by philosopher kings,

5
00:00:19,206 --> 00:00:22,077
many religions promise 
bliss in the afterlife,

6
00:00:22,077 --> 00:00:23,382
and throughout history,

7
00:00:23,382 --> 00:00:27,447
various groups have tried to build
paradise on Earth.

8
00:00:27,447 --> 00:00:32,926
Thomas More's 1516 book "Utopia"
gave this concept a name,

9
00:00:32,926 --> 00:00:35,517
Greek for "no place."

10
00:00:35,517 --> 00:00:37,707
Though the name suggested impossibility,

11
00:00:37,707 --> 00:00:40,077
modern scientific and political progress

12
00:00:40,077 --> 00:00:44,068
raised hopes of these dreams
finally becoming reality.

13
00:00:44,068 --> 00:00:48,007
But time and time again,
they instead turned into nightmares

14
00:00:48,007 --> 00:00:50,837
of war, famine, and oppression.

15
00:00:50,837 --> 00:00:53,988
And as artists began to question
utopian thinking,

16
00:00:53,988 --> 00:00:58,768
the genre of dystopia,
the not good place, was born.

17
00:00:58,768 --> 00:01:03,418
One of the earliest dystopian works
is Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

18
00:01:03,418 --> 00:01:06,738
Throughout his journey, Gulliver
encounters fictional societies,

19
00:01:06,738 --> 00:01:11,728
some of which at first seem impressive,
but turn out to be seriously flawed.

20
00:01:11,728 --> 00:01:13,628
On the flying island of Laputa,

21
00:01:13,628 --> 00:01:18,287
scientists and social planners
pursue extravagant and useless schemes

22
00:01:18,287 --> 00:01:22,147
while neglecting the practical needs
of the people below.

23
00:01:22,147 --> 00:01:25,168
And the Houyhnhnm who live
in perfectly logical harmony

24
00:01:25,168 --> 00:01:30,128
have no tolerance for the imperfections
of actual human beings.

25
00:01:30,128 --> 00:01:33,488
With his novel, Swift established
a blueprint for dystopia,

26
00:01:33,488 --> 00:01:37,179
imagining a world where certain trends
in contemporary society

27
00:01:37,179 --> 00:01:38,928
are taken to extremes,

28
00:01:38,928 --> 00:01:42,258
exposing their underlying flaws.

29
00:01:42,258 --> 00:01:46,952
And the next few centuries would
provide plenty of material.

30
00:01:46,952 --> 00:01:50,129
Industrial technology that promised
to free laborers

31
00:01:50,129 --> 00:01:54,530
imprisoned them in slums
and factories, instead,

32
00:01:54,530 --> 00:01:57,858
while tycoons grew richer than kings.

33
00:01:57,858 --> 00:02:02,699
By the late 1800's, many feared
where such conditions might lead.

34
00:02:02,699 --> 00:02:06,489
H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine" imagined
upper classes and workers

35
00:02:06,489 --> 00:02:09,209
evolving into separate species,

36
00:02:09,209 --> 00:02:13,840
while Jack London's "The Iron Heel"
portrayed a tyrannical oligarchy

37
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,399
ruling over impoverished masses.

38
00:02:17,399 --> 00:02:22,609
The new century brought more exciting
and terrifying changes.

39
00:02:22,609 --> 00:02:26,680
Medical advances made it possible
to transcend biological limits

40
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,350
while mass media allowed instant
communication

41
00:02:29,350 --> 00:02:31,980
between leaders and the public.

42
00:02:31,980 --> 00:02:36,159
In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World",
citizens are genetically engineered

43
00:02:36,159 --> 00:02:39,910
and conditioned to perform
their social roles.

44
00:02:39,910 --> 00:02:42,690
While propaganda and drugs keep
the society happy,

45
00:02:42,690 --> 00:02:46,490
it's clear some crucial 
human element is lost.

46
00:02:46,490 --> 00:02:52,020
But the best known dystopias
were not imaginary at all.

47
00:02:52,020 --> 00:02:55,101
As Europe suffered unprecedented
industrial warfare,

48
00:02:55,101 --> 00:02:57,673
new political movements took power.

49
00:02:57,673 --> 00:03:01,100
Some promised to erase 
all social distinctions,

50
00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:04,331
while others sought to unite people
around a mythical heritage.

51
00:03:04,331 --> 00:03:07,621
The results were real-world dystopias

52
00:03:07,621 --> 00:03:11,572
where life passed under the watchful eye
of the State

53
00:03:11,572 --> 00:03:16,902
and death came with ruthless efficiency
to any who didn't belong.

54
00:03:16,902 --> 00:03:19,812
Many writers of the time didn't
just observe these horrors,

55
00:03:19,812 --> 00:03:22,231
but lived through them.

56
00:03:22,231 --> 00:03:26,782
In his novel "We", Soviet writer
Yevgeny Zamyatin described a future

57
00:03:26,782 --> 00:03:30,652
where free will and individuality
were eliminated.

58
00:03:30,652 --> 00:03:34,832
Banned in the U.S.S.R., the book inspired
authors like George Orwell

59
00:03:34,832 --> 00:03:39,533
who fought on the front lines
against both fascism and communism.

60
00:03:39,533 --> 00:03:43,362
While his novel "Animal Farm" directly
mocked the Soviet regime,

61
00:03:43,362 --> 00:03:50,442
the classic "1984" was a broader critique
of totalitarianism, media, and language.

62
00:03:50,442 --> 00:03:54,013
And in the U.S.A., Sinclair Lewis's
"It Can't Happen Here"

63
00:03:54,013 --> 00:03:59,412
envisioned how easily democracy
gave way to fascism.

64
00:03:59,412 --> 00:04:01,293
In the decades after World War II,

65
00:04:01,293 --> 00:04:03,214
writers wondered what new technologies

66
00:04:03,214 --> 00:04:06,963
like atomic energy, 
artificial intelligence, and space travel

67
00:04:06,963 --> 00:04:09,553
meant for humanity's future.

68
00:04:09,553 --> 00:04:12,422
Contrasting with popular visions
of shining progress,

69
00:04:12,422 --> 00:04:18,044
dystopian science fiction expanded
to films, comics, and games.

70
00:04:18,044 --> 00:04:21,403
Robots turned against their creators

71
00:04:21,403 --> 00:04:25,494
while TV screens broadcast
deadly mass entertainment.

72
00:04:25,494 --> 00:04:30,153
Workers toiled in space colonies
above an Earth of depleted resources

73
00:04:30,153 --> 00:04:34,003
and overpopulated, crime-plagued cities.

74
00:04:34,003 --> 00:04:36,644
Yet politics was never far away.

75
00:04:36,644 --> 00:04:42,064
Works like "Dr. Strangelove" and "Watchmen"
explored the real threat of nuclear war,

76
00:04:42,064 --> 00:04:44,645
while "V for Vendetta"
and "The Handmaid's Tale"

77
00:04:44,645 --> 00:04:49,634
warned how easily our rights could
disappear in a crisis.

78
00:04:49,634 --> 00:04:53,294
And today's dystopian fiction continues
to reflect modern anxieties

79
00:04:53,294 --> 00:04:54,644
about inequality,

80
00:04:54,644 --> 00:04:55,634
climate change,

81
00:04:55,634 --> 00:04:56,705
government power,

82
00:04:56,705 --> 00:04:58,914
and global epidemics.

83
00:04:58,914 --> 00:05:01,565
So why bother with all this pessimism?

84
00:05:01,565 --> 00:05:04,984
Because at their heart, dystopias
are cautionary tales,

85
00:05:04,984 --> 00:05:08,095
not about some particular government
or technology,

86
00:05:08,095 --> 00:05:14,344
but the very idea that humanity can be
molded into an ideal shape.

87
00:05:14,344 --> 00:05:17,665
Think back to the perfect world
you imagined.

88
00:05:17,665 --> 00:05:20,936
Did you also imagine what it would
take to achieve?

89
00:05:20,936 --> 00:05:24,355
How would you make people cooperate?

90
00:05:24,355 --> 00:05:28,065
And how would you make sure it lasted?

91
00:05:28,065 --> 00:05:30,055
Now take another look.

92
00:05:30,055 --> 00:05:32,507
Does that world still seem perfect?