{"id":35247,"date":"2025-11-19T05:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=35247"},"modified":"2025-11-19T20:29:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T01:29:32","slug":"photopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/","title":{"rendered":"photopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Theodor Reik<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I think about what is going on in the world, I have to wonder whether the nonsense that we see all around us can go on forever.\u00a0 Now it goes without saying that human folly is a tapestry that envelops all of us in a pattern that generates pain, fear, violence and death at a prodigious rate.\u00a0 And that there has never been a full century in history when the majority of human beings lived in peace and happiness.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t anything surprising.\u00a0 This is just what human beings do.\u00a0 We\u2019ve always lived in a state of wary hostility even when we were nothing but small family groups living around a campfire to keep the cave bears and sabretooth tigers at bay.\u00a0 We\u2019re not peaceful creatures.\u00a0 We may live now in enormous groupings measured in the millions and even billions of individuals but at all times and in all places, we seem to end up at each other\u2019s throats.\u00a0 But, does this have to be?\u00a0 Could it be possible for humans to organize themselves into groups that interact in ways that lead to long term and abiding cohesion and satisfying cooperation?<\/p>\n

The track record for utopian communities is definitely poor.\u00a0 Some of the religious groups have thrived and shown some ability to cooperate in many community endeavors but this is a small minority of the human race.\u00a0 And even they can\u2019t completely eliminate anti-social behavior.\u00a0 Currently, communities that live in affluent areas and support a robust police presence and a conservative judicial philosophy seem to do the best at creating a workable human environment.\u00a0 But as we\u2019ve seen since 2020 the forces of chaos can unleash barbarism even in the most affluent areas of the country.<\/p>\n

But what if technology can provide a system to guarantee both social cohesion and material security?\u00a0 We\u2019re seeing the dystopic version of this in the Chinese system of social control called the \u201cSocial Credit System.\u201d\u00a0 Here those who don\u2019t follow the rules are blacklisted and denied access to various important social advantages like good schools and better neighborhoods.\u00a0 But think of the opposite.\u00a0 Imagine a multitude of organizations that figure out ways to find compatible people and build social systems that bind them together and allow them to thrive.\u00a0 I imagine these as completely voluntary associations.\u00a0 And if someone doesn\u2019t work out, they get the equity that they put into the system and are assisted to find another association where they would fit better.\u00a0 But such an ejection would be considered a failure by the organization, which would use the most advanced research to analyze personalities before candidates are accepted into the association.<\/p>\n

In the next installment I\u2019ll discuss what facets of life would and wouldn\u2019t be included in these organizations.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll talk about what I think are the human realities that make something like this extremely difficult to pull off outside of a science fiction story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.\u201d Theodor Reik   When I think about what<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1289,1263,4],"tags":[1290,1267,5084,4484,5083],"class_list":["post-35247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-fiction-by-me","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","category-sff","tag-my-fiction","tag-photogs-corner","tag-photopia","tag-the-american-archipelago-book-1-the-sniper","tag-utopia"],"yoast_head":"\nphotopia - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"photopia - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.\u201d Theodor Reik   When I think about what\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"photopia\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\"},\"wordCount\":518,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"My Fiction\",\"photog's Corner\",\"photopia\",\"The American Archipelago: Book 1 \u2013 The Sniper\",\"utopia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Current Events\",\"My Fiction\",\"photog's Corner\",\"Science Fiction \/ Fantasy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\",\"name\":\"photopia - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"photopia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"photopia - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"photopia - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"\u201cIt has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.\u201d Theodor Reik   When I think about what","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00","author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"photopia","datePublished":"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/"},"wordCount":518,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["My Fiction","photog's Corner","photopia","The American Archipelago: Book 1 \u2013 The Sniper","utopia"],"articleSection":["Current Events","My Fiction","photog's Corner","Science Fiction \/ Fantasy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/","name":"photopia - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-19T10:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T01:29:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/photopia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"photopia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35248,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions\/35248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}