By: Michael Shermer
Level of Difficulty:
**
LISTEN, READ ALONG
AND HIGHLIGHT
Click “listen here” to the right of the screen, listen to
the text being read out loud, read along and highlight the main ideas and
important details.
QUESTIONS
1.
The writer makes the following statement in the
first paragraph: “This is where the trouble begins.” What trouble is he referring to?
2.
Why are dystopias the dark mirror of utopias?
3.
Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ4L8JEILNE&t=10s
This example proves that …..
4.
The New Harmony community didn’t work because of….
(Two answers, find both)
5.
Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUB6vOErS8
Why didn’t any of them wreak the kind of havoc Soviet collectivization of farms
did?
6.
Watch the following short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkzDrLpmIXY
Why did the King and Queen of Spain turn into dystopian murderers?
7.
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOpf6KcWYyw
Why is the typical answer given to the trolley experiment significant? Because
it implies that……………
8.
Read the thought experiment involving the ER
doctor. What is this type of thinking called?
9.
Watch the documentary on Stalin’s experiment
with apes and humans: http://www.documentarytube.com/videos/joseph-stalin-s-humanzee-experiments
What was the justification for such experiments?
10.
What conclusion can be drawn from all the
atrocities committed in the 20th century with the view of creating a
so called ‘utopia’?
11.
What realization on the part of Hitler
contributed to his large following? His realization that…
12.
Read the remainder of the text. A protopia is
considered better than a utopia because it aims at realizing…
13.
All the examples provided in this last section
of the text prove that…
UTOPIA IS A DANGEROUS
IDEAL: WE SHOULD AIM FOR PROTOPIA; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This thought
provoking text is a little gem encapsulating history, political thought and
even philosophy yet it is straightforward and easy to follow. It is also a well
written argumentative essay and should lead to some lively discussion. Books
like 1984 and Brave New World could be assigned as follow up.
1.
The failed social experiments, repressive
political regimes, and overbearing economic systems that result from utopian
dreams put into practice
2.
Because a perfect society is designed for an
imperfect species
3.
Utopias are especially vulnerable when a social
theory based on collective ownership, communal work authoritarian rule and a
command-and-control economy collides…
4.
Nature’s own inherent law of diversity / the
individualities of persons and circumstances and the instinct of self
preservation
5.
Without large numbers of members, they lacked
political and economic power
6.
They believed that the only thing preventing them
from unifying Spain was heresy
7.
It would be easy to convince people in
autocratic states with utopian aspirations to kill 1000 to save 5000, or to
exterminate 1.000.000 so that 5.000.000 might prosper
8.
Utilitarian utopianism
9.
Leon Trotsky’s utopian vision (OR write it out
in full)
10.
When you have to murder people by the tens of
millions to achieve your utopian dream, you have instantiated only a dystopian
nightmare
11.
The realization that human beings, at least
intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice
12.
Incremental progress in steps towards improvement,
not perfection.
13.
A protopian future is not only practical, it is
realisable
Great article with excellent idea! Thank you for such a valuable article.
ReplyDeletePerth Assignment Help