Critical Thinkers Avoid Dystopian Thinking

In the past hundred years or more, the idea of a dystopian world has increasingly taken root. The term dystopian has somewhat different uses, with its core definition referring to the opposite of the ideal (utopian) society. As a developing concept, dystopian thinking generally refers to imagining a human future marked by great suffering, oppression, and injustice. Many people see global warming and failures to sustain the earth’s resources as dystopian, which may lead to a sense of hopelessness. In addition, dystopian thinkers spotlight how in many societies today, information, as well as independence of thought and freedom of thought, are restricted or censored. People are perceived as being under constant surveillance, with little or no rights to privacy (increasingly in accord with George Orwell’s predictions in his book 1984), and consequently, these people may develop a fear of the outside world. According to dystopian thinking, people are under government control, religious control, bureaucratic control, and/or technological control, with loss of the individual as a consequence. This perspective often leads to a growing view of society as an antagonist against which people must fight or dissent. There is dystopian fiction, dystopian conversation, and private dystopian thinking. You may be influenced by any or all of these.

It is true that humans are in many ways restricted by societal impositions, by authoritarian or sophistic governments, and by the influences and controls of religion, bureaucracy, and technology. It is true that we live in an era of government and corporate surveillance which appears to be growing worse, with its attendant loss of privacy and dignity. It is also true that neither freedom of thought, freedom of speech, nor the other basic human rights are widespread across human societies.

Despite all these dark realities and their implications, in the end, as a thinker, you have options. Ideally you can accept that humans are imperfect (and, in many ways, absurd), while you yourself attempt to live at the highest level of self-fulfillment possible within societal constraints, and at the same time doing what you can to contribute to a better world. Alternatively, sadly, you can maintain a feeling of hopelessness and recoil into a cloud of depression caused by feelings of impotence. Or, again sadly, you may choose to deal with your dystopian feelings through indifference, apathy, mediocrity, or even violence.

Each of us has the right to find happiness in ways that do not harm others, despite the deficient world in which we live. This cannot be done if we emotionally collapse under dystopian thinking or allow ourselves to become emotionally imbalanced in any other ways, such as through violence.

I do not at all mean to deny or ignore the dystopian features of human cultures and governments. But as aspiring critical thinkers, we can only work to remedy these problems to the extent that we are able, while also working around them to achieve what personal goals we can in our lifetimes in keeping with conscientious values.

Consider: what important implications follow, for you, from harboring a sense of hopelessness? What important implications follow from nurturing a sense of impotence in yourself? What implications come from dwelling on existing dystopian realities and future dystopian possibilities? What can you personally do to change anything at all about human societies? In other words, how can you productively work against dystopian realities? How can you preserve your sense of self and develop your creative talents while living in this very imperfect human world?

If you fall prey to dystopian thinking, realize how this will likely affect your mental well-being. How can you be other than depressed, anxious or irritable if you constantly think about how sick, ridiculous, and bizarre are people, governments, their beliefs, and their actions? Answered frankly, you cannot. Realize that you are not responsible for making the world a sane place, as much as you may want to, and as clearly as you may see a path to more cultivated ways of living. You are only responsible to do what you can to positively affect any part of life or the earth itself. Beyond that, you have every right to pursue activities that bring you pleasure. You are not required to carry the weight of the world on your back; in any case, you cannot.

INTERNALIZE THE IDEA: AVOIDING DYSTOPIAN THINKING

If you fall prey to dystopian thinking, write out your answers to these statements:

1. Dystopian thinking affects me in the following ways . . .

2. I get my dystopian ideas from . . .

3. I realize I need to replace dystopian thinking with the following reasoning . . .

4. Therefore, I intend to make the following changes in my life . . .

This blog has been excerpted (and modified) from pages 313-315 of Critical Thinking Therapy: For Happiness and Self-Actualization, by Linda Elder (2025), Treely Green Publishing Co. (treelygreenpublishing.com).

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DISCLAIMER: Dystopian thinking can lead to deep depression and other enduring negative emotions requiring professional help. The ideas in this blog cannot substitute for professional therapeutic help where it is needed.

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