I recently started reading Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", and along with an idea I had for a film, it got my mind working on the subject of a society based on religion.

I'm sure most of you will agree that we have an abundance of leisure time in our modern society, and that not all of this lesiure time is filled with fun activities. Many Americans are prone to boredom and depression as a result of this "empty time," and several industries cater to filling it (movies, TV, books, etc.), often unsucessfully. Drug abuse can be undoubtedly linked to boredom among both children and adults, as can other "negative" acts such as sex and vandalism.

Furthermore, one of the main purposes of both drugs and entertainment is to engage the mind in "wonder," that is, to occupy the mind with sensory stimuli that is both physically pleasurable and intellectually interesting, and to remove the mind from a state of idleness and boredom.

Now, suppose that in the future technology has pogressed to the point where any sort of sensory stimuli is possible, and the science behind this technology has been concealed, to the point where it appears to be magical and inexplainable, i.e. truly "wondrous." This technology could be explained only as an act of god, and it use would therefore be inherently religious and spiritual.

My question is this: if there was a technocratic Theocracy such as this, in which humanity could be impressed by such "miracles" and "wonders" throughout their leisure time, thereby bypassing boredom and idleness of the mind, would it be worth the loss of human freedom? For example, if you were guaranteed to be captivated, amazed, and happy thoughout your leisure time, would there be a use for freedom?

I realize this probably makes no sense to anyone but myself, but I wanted to see everyone's thoughts on such a tradeoff.

Sounds like The Matrix to me.

In a way, but it's more similar to Cipher's story (plug me back in and make me rich) than anything else in the Matrix. The Matrix is mundane, this would be amazing.

I don't have a comment on this yet, but I am thinking about it.

"Life, including Liberty OR the Pursuit of Happiness."

The fact that you are thinking about it is good enough for me. All I'm really asking is, would you rather have freedom and the potential for happiness, or be guaranteed happiness with no chance for freedom? If such a thing is possible, that is.

Nate, you start the deepest threads in N&D.

It's the acid.

I try dude. I start thinking about a topic and all its odds and ends, and I end up with the weirdest crap. I had the idea for such a society before I read The Handmaid's Tale, but my society seemed like the natural progression from Atwood's, so it made sense to connect the two. Furthermore, I've always been captivated by the majesty of religion's trappings (choirs, the artwork, the amazing spaces for worship. etc.) and it makes sense that eventually technology will contribute to religion's majesty, rather than standing at odds with it.

People trade freedom for happiness all the time. It's called a job. I recommend it if you don't have one.

Do you mean sacrificing "freedom" or "free will"?

I almost added "I need to drop some acid before I can comment."

The people in this society would still work (albeit in different areas as a result of the nature of the society), but their time outside of work would also be mandated in the forms of different ceremonies, miracles, acts of god, etc. So in that way, they would be sacrificing free will. But each of these compulsory events would be entirely believable and entirely amazing, and each person would feel that their actions and their lives have meaning, because such wonders would be created for them. I feel that our society lacks wonder and amazement, and these would be the crucial mechanisms for the existence of such a society, and woul drive people to participate in the society, as well as uphold it as a good thing.

Btw, I have a job. I'm at it now.

I was thinking Brave New World...

It would definitely be more along the lines of BNW, especially in terms of indoctrination and pacification.

i was thinking brave new world as well

This type of society would surpass even BNW however, because the people of that society recognize their lesiure time as such, whereas the people of this theocracy would recognize such time as food for their souls. Similar to BNW, they would love their compulsory acitivities as if they had chose them themselves.

i think you maybe questioning the nature of freedom itself, which would always lead to the freedom/determinism debate

I wouldn't be so quick to say that work means you are giving up freedom. Not at all in fact. I would say that a great majority of people get jobs in order to achieve happiness.

I didn't make that claim, someone else did. Self-fulfillment is indeed one of the necessities of happiness. I meant freedom as is pertains to "empty time", time not spent working.

I know, I was just throwing that out there.

Fuck that. Work sucks. I'd much rather never have to work another day in my life.