Returned to the game, and honestly? This post is still absolutely true.
@LukeAlmighty Thing is... as bad as things are today, someone from medieval time would think living anywhere in Europe today would be epic.
We've lost perspective of how much life has improved because of technology, and I'd wager it makes sense in universe that people in Cyberpunk consider it a dystopia, because they also lost perspective on things and focus only on their present day issues.
I had a sobering though a year ago. Back during the days of Mozart or Beethoven, these people weren't composing music for the wider audience. Entertainment was a thing solely for the rich. But today, a homeless person in America can listen to any music he wants on a pocket sized computer.
Or Tim Pool likes to make the argument that the original oil baron had worse dental care than an average american has today.
People are free to complain about wealth inequalities, but they should also take a second and appreciate that they probably have access to the same, if not more, life amenities than the richest of the rich from not that long ago. That is bonkers to me.
So yeah, any realistic fiction set in a much more technologically advanced future, is gonna have some of the things we care about solved thanks to technology, while also introducing new unique problems that make it a dystopia.
I haven't played the game, but my understanding was that the dystopic element was some kind of augmentation psychosis and people losing their humanity.
ひげ
@alyx @LukeAlmighty my roommate was pining for the middle ages where a peasant would just work at his farm and then have a wife and a child he goes back to and doesn't have to do anything for like half the year.
i had to explain to him that, although we spend more time working than an average peasant did, our potential is at least 100x higher. you just have to utilize that potential because if you don't, then you're just a shitty peasant. our time is not the same as any other time so it's best to think about what you can do now rather than what you can't.
@beardalaxy @LukeAlmighty
My grandmother (when she was alive and somewhat healthy) used to take care of a small garden + a few farm animals (in the city of all things, cause we be like that sometimes). Anyway, when I was little, I stayed with her for a while, and I'm well familiar with how hard she worked to grow some vegetables, a pig and some chickens. It was basically a 6am to 9pm workday. For a tiny plot of land.
Also, there's no such thing as "doesn't have to do anything for half a year". At best you have the months of winter. Because you still have to till the land, and fertilize it, and whatnot. There's plenty of preparation to be done before and after you have your crop.
So yeah... your roommate was clueless. It might be a bit easier these days to be a farmer, with things like tractors and all that, but in the middle ages?... Your roommate had no idea.
