Poll: The Equilibrium Dilema

[Caliostro]

In 2003 Kurt Wimmer decided to pose the world a reflexive question about human nature. Sadly he overestimated people and while the question was there, the majority of people seemed far more interested in the gun waving and promptly, and unfairly, dispatched it as a Matrix wannabe. (Spoiler: It's not. It's better.)

Spoiler: Plot Synopsis - Don´t click if you haven't seen the movie yet.

It's half-past World War III, an event that left the world in shambles and the surviving societies fairly traumatized and doing anything they could to prevent a new war. Thus they had their most desperate idea: Remove the single cause of every war ever - Human emotion. If it's human emotion that causes conflict (and it is), removing it should prevent all further conflicts and make a new war impossible.

And so they did thanks to a drug called Prozium-II that effectively eliminates human emotion, together with a good side of dictatorial regime, hunting and killing anyone who'd dare show human emotion for the sake of peace.

Thus enter the main character, John Preston (played by Christian Bale), who, through a series of events, starts feeling emotions and decides humans without emotions are robots, not really living but merely existing. He then proceeds to kick everyone's ass in the coolest possible way.

...Ok there's a lot more to it and it's far better developed, but you get the point

This however raises an interesting question: Given the chance to end human emotion in favor of peace, would you? Not necessarily in the same dictatorial bloodshed way they did in the movie, assuming you could do it peacefully.

On one hand, pretty much eternal peace and the end of human conflicts.

On the other hand, human emotion, the very thing that defines us and separates us from other sentient beings. The reason we live.

Which road would you take and why?

 

[Inverse Skies]

You couldn't biochemically anyway, seeing as emotions are nothing more than the responses neurons have to particular hormones and neurotransmitters, without which the brain wouldn't function. Doesn't make it any less interesting a concept though.

I would say no, because other animals like dogs and cats experience emotions, so emotion is not a universally human experience and hence as such we shouldn't deny ourself it. Besides, wouldn't having no emotion stagnate humanity and cause the very things that drive our science and tech forward, (hope, greed, fame, power etc) to fall flat? It seems like no solution at all really.

 

[Skeleon]

Well, no, I wouldn't want to end human emotion altogether. However, how about enhancing and calming it a bit?
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley made me think "this isn't too bad, I could live in this dystopian future".
Do I desire it? No, can't say that I do. I'd rather remain free but there are worse ways of living than taking soma and being continously content with your life.
Think 1984.

 

[chimmers]

If you had no emotion, then you wouldn't be happy about peace so what's the point?
I like happy

 

[karmapolizei]

Of course not. Emotions are necessary for many brain functions - thinking, for instance, doesn't work without emotions (really!), let alone any kind of learning, because feelings (which is the more correct term here, for various reasons which are not the point here) are a predeterminant for the brain to make any sense of the massive input of stimuli. There's this guy who lost the part of this brain that makes you 'feel'. Well, guess what, he turned daft as hell, he didn't get anything right anymore because his THINKING was flawed without feelings.

Other than that, I'd like to note:

1. As a movie, Equilibrium IS a Matrix rip-off.
2. Plot-wise, Equilibrium shamelessly rips off 'Brave New World' and '1984'. It doesn't even add the first thing to the dystopia genre: The emotion-free drug is only a minor alteration from Huxley's Soma, and

Spoiler

the leader being a fabrication.. well, Big Brother probably doesn't exist, either

.
3. Nevertheless, I found it quite entertaining, although the plot-twists were predictable as fuck (cp. 2.).

 

[traceur_]

All emotions? well that includes fear and without fear we are absolutely fucked, we would have people jumping off buildings, climbing into crocodile enclosures at the zoo, playing chicken with trucks on the highway. In short it's a bad idea and that's just when you remove fear.
Imagine the horror when you get rid of horny!

 

[LockHeart]

Well, no, I wouldn't want to end human emotion altogether. However, how about enhancing and calming it a bit?
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley made me think "this isn't too bad, I could live in this dystopian future".
Do I desire it? No, can't say that I do. I'd rather remain free but there are worse ways of living than taking soma and being continously content with your life.
Think 1984.

I, personally, would hate to live my life under the influence of Huxley's soma, but then again I know what I'd be missing. I think I like thinking too much

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"

 

[iain62a]

While I have not seen 1984 I am aware of it

Have not seen 1984.

You do realise that 1984 is a book. One of the most famous books ever written, no less.

Well, to be fair they did make a film of it, but still.

 

[kaziard]

All emotions? well that includes fear and without fear we are absolutely fucked, we would have people jumping off buildings, climbing into crocodile enclosures at the zoo, playing chicken with trucks on the highway. In short it's a bad idea and that's just when you remove fear.
Imagine the horror when you get rid of horny!

well not really considering the bravado one would need to think that getting into a crocodile pit would be fun would be gone too.
i wouldnt remove emotions cause we would basically stall, the drive behind just about every human advancement was because of people with vision and extreme dedication.

 

[karmapolizei]

That being said its is not a Matrix rip off.

In my book, guys with sunglasses and long dark coats fighting heavily over-the-top martial arts battles with guns and slow-mo effects is a Matrix rip-off. The plot, however, is not - it's, as I said, a Dystopian literature rip-off from start to finish.

Also note that the drug in Equilibrium doesnt actually completely remove emotion. It takes away the highs and the lows of emotion leaving you somewhere in the middle.

I did, because I wrote "slight alteration", but the basic concept remains the same: Control people with a drug that manipulates their emotions. Taking all emotions or taking all but happiness is six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Still, there's no reason to fight, because on the actual matter (do we want that or not?), we agree.

 

[sebar nl]

If you had no emotion, then you wouldn't be happy about peace so what's the point?
I like happy

I like the way you think.

 

[Fire Daemon]

I wouldn't remove emotions even if it meant the death of everyone.

A world without emotion would be a stale world with a near zombie like population. Our life would consist of working and sleeping with maybe a few minutes traveling to our designated sleeping area and the odd meal, most likely of the gruel variety. Nothing you do or see will ever register and so all you'll want to do is what your told to do, which would be to work.

Seems like a pretty crappy existence.

 

[clarinetJWD]

Is it a Matrix, 1984, and Brave New World rip-off? Yes, but don't forget the Fahrenheit-451 "fireman" aspects.

Does that make it a bad movie? No. It's a very good movie right up until the very end, which just doesn't fit with the cerebral nature of the dystopian plot. They turned something that could have been great into just an action movie at the last possible second. I enjoyed it, but it could have been so much more.

As for the emotions thing, of course not!

 

[Skeleon]

I, personally, would hate to live my life under the influence of Huxley's soma, but then again I know what I'd be missing. I think I like thinking too much

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"

Well, yes, I'm just saying there's even worse than living like a happy pig.

 

[JMeganSnow]

It wouldn't even prevent what it was supposed to prevent (war, etc.) because plenty of people do that sort of thing without any emotional drive whatsoever, just out of obedience to authority.

Emotion isn't the problem. Irrationality is the problem, and not all irrationality is emotionally-motivated. Quite a lot of it is simply motivated by bad thinking.

 

[Aunel]

Humanity has become too powerfull for our own good, we have weapons that can level entire cities, so I say, let's just never make weapons again!

 

[Random Argument Man]

A. Equilibrium was a crappy movie. (Not even Christian Bale or Sean Bean could save this).
An ok premise, bad execution and it really do too much to be so "Let's keep emotions. They're saving the beauty of this world".

B. However, facing the choice of taking emotions away for a dictator seems a little far-fetched.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

All emotions? well that includes fear and without fear we are absolutely fucked, we would have people jumping off buildings, climbing into crocodile enclosures at the zoo, playing chicken with trucks on the highway. In short it's a bad idea and that's just when you remove fear.
Imagine the horror when you get rid of horny!

Removing the desire to reproduce removes the point of being able to reproduce.

 

[AceDiamond]

Equilibrium is not a Matrix rip-off by virtue of slow-motion, there are only two instances of slow-motion used in the movie, and only one of them in a fight scene, so saying "oh they're fighting all slow-mo like in the Matrix" is not true. Style-wise? Eh sure why not, they have trenchcoats, that's true. The Matrix is ripping off GITS anyway. (and I like The Matrix but seriously)

Equilibrium is however an amalgam of many utopian and dystopian science-fiction stories, including Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451. Not really ripping off any of them completely, but rather taking many elements of each and combining them.

Uh...anyway I wouldn't give up emotions and art for the sake of civilization, since emotions are arguably part of what makes humans what they are, for better or worse.

 

[GruntOwner]

Given that without emotion we have no drive to do anything. At all. Ever, we wouldn't actually make any progress. We'd just be going around with no way of prioritisation bar that which is necesary to survive, and when we question the pros of life we would, logically, conclude that without emotion there is no particular purpose to life and we'd all die. Apathetically.