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Escapism- how do you view it?

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anna-banana
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28 Nov 2008, 7:54 am

Some time ago I've come across a very interesting article about a certain Swedish childrens book author. What struck me about it was the last paragraph accusing the author of "promoting escapism". I realised that I've seen the exact same accusations in various film and literature reviews, I just never put any thought to it.

Wikipedia wrote:
Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" from the perceived unpleasant aspects of daily stress. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to try to help relieve feelings of depression or general sadness.


So what is so fundamentally wrong about escapism? Personally I can't imagine living my life in reality 24/7. Every day I give myself a few hours of reality, when I have to send out some CVs, pay the bills, try to clean the apartment and so on. It's not that reality wears me down *that* much, it's just so dull and mundane.

Not to mention other advantages of escapism:

Wikipedia wrote:
A German social philosopher Ernst Bloch wrote that utopias and images of fulfillment, however regressive they might be, also included an impetus for a radical social change. According to Bloch, social justice could not be realized without seeing things fundamentally differently. Something that is mere "daydreaming" or "escapism" from the viewpoint of a technological-rational society might be a seed for a new and more humane social order, it can be seen as an "immature, but honest substitute for revolution".


So what do you guys think about it? Healthy? Unhealthy? Do you do it a lot?


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28 Nov 2008, 8:39 am

It never occurred to me that there might be something wrong with it.



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28 Nov 2008, 9:12 am

i think it's healthy. i don't think about the reality of things too much.



claire-333
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28 Nov 2008, 9:28 am

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Last edited by claire-333 on 30 Nov 2008, 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ThatRedHairedGrrl
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28 Nov 2008, 9:44 am

I think J. R. R. Tolkien said it best...

Quote:
Yes...fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then its our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!


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28 Nov 2008, 10:01 am

I do not think that it is harmful to escape from the stresses of life at times. I like doing this by by watching Star Trek or imagining a utopian planet called Aspergia somewhere in the Milky way Galaxy in the constellation Virgo 42 light years away another planet like earth in the fact Aspergia contains humans as its dominant lifeform with our neuroconfiguration and its technology is similar to that found in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This may make great sci fi.



anna-banana
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28 Nov 2008, 10:15 am

ThatRedHairedGrrl wrote:
I think J. R. R. Tolkien said it best...

Quote:
Yes...fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then its our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!


that's a great quote.

I've been wondering if NTs also live in their minds as much as we do... I think they are more prone to criticise such lifestyle. when I started reading up on escapism I actually had an urge to call my NT friends and ask them about it. but then I thought that if I called any of them and asked them "you know, I've been wondering, what is your everyday life's reality/non-reality ratio?" they would probably think I went complete bonkers... :roll:


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28 Nov 2008, 11:36 am

I think that if there wasn't any form of escapism in my world, i'd be suffering autistic breakdowns daily. Thank god for modern technology.



Macbeth
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28 Nov 2008, 12:19 pm

All fiction is, to some degree, escapism, though the more "realistic" it is, the less that applies. That is to say,the more firmly rooted in the real world it is and the less "suspension of disbelief" applies, the less escapist it will be.


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28 Nov 2008, 12:26 pm

If it weren't for excapism, I'd have practically no social life at all! Think about it; would anyone have a social life if there were no fictional books, movies, or TV shows to discuss? If there were no sporting events or concerts, what venues would be left for people to escape from their hum-drum, everyday lives? Would the porn industry be paying for the Internet if people did not engage in any form of escapism?

C'mon, escapism is part of living!


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anna-banana
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28 Nov 2008, 7:11 pm

Fnord wrote:
If it weren't for excapism, I'd have practically no social life at all! Think about it; would anyone have a social life if there were no fictional books, movies, or TV shows to discuss? If there were no sporting events or concerts, what venues would be left for people to escape from their hum-drum, everyday lives? Would the porn industry be paying for the Internet if people did not engage in any form of escapism?

C'mon, escapism is part of living!


Wisegeek.com wrote:
when escapism runs rampant, it prevents us from living in the world as truly engaged. It can lead to addiction, breakdown of relationships and inability to actually survive in the real world.


*that's* what I mean about the dangers of escapism.


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28 Nov 2008, 7:18 pm

I suppose Heroin and the like are extremes of escapism.
Wanderlust could be described as escapism in the real world, as could some monastic lifestyles.

Clearly some methods of escape are better than others, but I broadly support it on the whole.



anna-banana
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28 Nov 2008, 7:23 pm

Letum wrote:
I suppose Heroin and the like are extremes of escapism.
Wanderlust could be described as escapism in the real world, as could some monastic lifestyles.

Clearly some methods of escape are better than others, but I broadly support it on the whole.


yes. yes, I do as well.

I can't help but wonder though, if all people who walk the Earth were as susceptible to escapism as aspies, would we ever have gone anywhere with things as a species...?


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28 Nov 2008, 8:05 pm

anna-banana wrote:
[...] if all people who walk the Earth were as susceptible to escapism as aspies, would we ever have gone anywhere with things as a species...?


You think we are?
Do you think worldly achievements are more valuable to the individual than escapism?



claire-333
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28 Nov 2008, 8:33 pm

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Last edited by claire-333 on 30 Nov 2008, 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fnord
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28 Nov 2008, 8:37 pm

anna-banana wrote:
Letum wrote:
I suppose Heroin and the like are extremes of escapism.
Wanderlust could be described as escapism in the real world, as could some monastic lifestyles.

Clearly some methods of escape are better than others, but I broadly support it on the whole.

yes. yes, I do as well.

I can't help but wonder though, if all people who walk the Earth were as susceptible to escapism as aspies, would we ever have gone anywhere with things as a species...?

You mean people like Newton, Einstein, and DaVinci? Escapist dreamers, each one. They just escaped into a world in their heads where they visualised the Calculus, Relativity, and the statue of David.

(this is my 4000th post)


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