As an optimist I typically always encourage others to have hope that everything will turn around for the better so that things will improve. Therefore I agree when Kim Stanley Robinson states, “It’s crucial to keep imagining that things could get better, and furthermore to imagine how they might get better.” This way of thinking has helped me throughout my life as I believe the energy put into the world is what is returned. So if one is thinking negatively and being a pessimist, then I feel those negative things may actually occur and follow them throughout life. With this being said, I feel the same thing goes for dystopia’s and utopia’s to a certain extent. If one is actively anti-utopia then they believe it is impossible to live in a good place, and when that is the main thought then it will not occur.
We learned early on that utopia’s derivative word eutopia translates to “good place”, but some people have taken this and assumed that it means perfect. If we all think and work to create a good place and not a perfect one then I think we can overcome our real life dystopias. But in order to do that it starts with everyone’s collaborative and positive outlook and how they interact with the world. In order for this to occur successfully I think it is important that everyone adapt to this same way of thinking and that all parties are aware of the end goal: to create a better future. When moving forward in doing this I also feel it is imperative to consider the world’s past and history as a dystopia that we learn from, but not a guiding factor.
