Comments on: Children of Men

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:01:23 +0000

There’s a lot packed into that statement, Karl, “relatively inviting morally for people who have qualms about killing people but not about genocide.”

Maybe we should ask ourselves if in the present we have cultures or governments that make a distinction between killing people and genocide–are we living in dystopia?

By: Karl Hallowell

Karl Hallowell — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:34:00 +0000

The book “Greybeard” by Brian Aldiss (published 1964) is another contribution to the genre. There, I think some global radiation incident sterilizes the human race except for a few lucky ones. The protagonist gets the name “Greybeard” because of his relative “youth”. He still has some color in his beard.

I think there are a number of stories about human-made diseases that have this sort of effect. They either sterilize a particular ethnic group or the whole human race (perhaps the former in intent but the latter in practice). I think part of the idea is that this sort of thing (if possible) would be relatively inviting morally for people who have qualms about killing people but not about genocide.

By: Stephen Gordon

Stephen Gordon — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:06:46 +0000

Phil:

Brin made the point that when a dystopia is thoughtfully presented – particularly when it explains how we get from here and now to then and there – it can be invaluable. It may give us the opportunity to avoid certain futures.

That’s one way the pessimists could benefit the rest of us.

Ironically, this gives me another reason not to be a pessimist.