How to recognize a dystopia - Alex Gendler

The genre of dystopia – the ‘not good place’– has captured the imaginations of artists and audiences alike for centuries. But why do we bother with all this pessimism? Alex Gendler explains how dystopias act as cautionary tales – not about some particular government or technology, but the very idea that humanity can be molded into an ideal shape.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by TED-Ed.

[kairuihu]

I thought the title said "How to recognize a dyslexia", than I realized it actually said "how to recognize a dystopia", than I realized that this is probably how you recognize a dyslexia.

[baronvonbork]

The fact that every dystopia is someone's utopia both fascinates and horrifies me at the same time

[colmil]

Whoever does the animation on these videos needs a raise

[clary]

I love reading dystopian books because they often represent problems we have in our society but exaggeratedly and I think that such as the people in the stories change their worlds we should improve ours too (just preferably not as a revolution like in those books)

[TheBaaz]

this narrator's voice is beautiful. Dear Ted if youre listening, please, never lose this guy.

[shoothemdown]

Damn, school seems pointless when you can just watch this channel all day

[satnamo]

Love others as I love my self—
That is all we need to make a paradise on earth because people are so good at making others suffer.

[sahilalombarbhuiya]

I read the Gulliver's Travels when I was 14. I thought it to be a children's book and it never striked me to be a dystopia or a satire... The older I'm the more comlicated my life is getting! :')

[Jules-mtxz]

The utopia of some is the dystopia of others.

[popalupa]

Basically, what I got from this is that it is impossible for humanity to achieve perfection.

[colelevel]

"Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions" is an underrated book I would consider a dystopia. It's about shapes living in a 2d world, with class structures based on how many sides a shape has, and throughout the story a square finds out about the third dimension and the other flatlanders refuse to believe him or that there's anything outside of their world. It's scarily accurate to today's society for a book written in 1884.

[malup]

To me, a “utopia” on earth feels scary. If everything is perfect, what do we work toward?

[yashsrivastava]

That last bit there is so well done, when he illustrates how utopian thinking can lead to a dystopia

[austinh]

That last bit of imagery was very powerful

[iLikeCrabrangoons]

Dystopia is my favorite genre to read. I love a well crafted idea that looks so nice and shiny on the outside and the deeper you dig the more horrifying it becomes.

[wholesomedegenerate]

4:08 that oddly satisfying part when the horizon lines up with the center of the division

[giderahwolf]

Father taught me, "Utopia and Dystopia are the same thing. It's called Utopia on paper, and Dystopia, when you make it real."

The older I am, the more I understand that.

[kadius]

“How to recognise a dystopia”

*Looks out the window*
Yeah, I reckon we’re just about there...

[lillymirembe]

The ending when he described how achieving a utopia would create a dystopia shook me. And how calm he sounded made it worse

[somethingelse]

I was always excitedly anticipating a post apocalyptic dystopia, until I realized we are already living in it. It happened while we were distracted.