| I read through that, and talked about it with some colleagues.
It kept reminding me or something I couldn't put my finger on, then it hit me.
Equilibrium.
Check that movie out, or read the plot synopsis.
After the final World War, the big one that nearly obliterated the Earth, all the survivors gathered in one area of the world and decided that emotion excess was the cause of all problems.
The result is that multiple times a day people injected themselves with a chemical that suppressed both positive and negative emotional excess.
That's why this whole concept bothers me.
The "Imperative" tries to say that people will be more motivated and excited to succeed, learn, and achieve.
I say bullshit (to the author and the Imperative, not to you, Lullaby).
Think of the satisfaction you got from striving and succeeding.
If I'm already in dopaminergic overdrive, I don't need to create anything. It won't alter anything about how I feel or respond.
You will be suppressing violent urges and all three forms of pain, but you'll be suppressing the drive to achieve as well.
Punishment for crime will mean nothing to me because I'll always be happy. Threaten me with taking away my "dopa-drive" pills and I still won't care because I won't be able to feel fear and pain and loss from the possibility of losing my "dopa-drive".
My daughter's first word won't mean anything to me. I'm already in a state of euphoria; the squeaking "daddy" of a 3 month old won't get any more of a rise out of me.
Just as in Equilibrium, and in the drug at the end of Serenity, you'll be suppressing the urge to live and achieve, not enhancing it. |