I am not suggesting that some alternative, some more humane alternative, to either the appearential or spatial order cannot be found. I am suggesting, however, that utopian plans for the heavenly city must, if they are to be viable, contain within them a heavy dose of social psychological realism about the very unheavenly creatures who will be its inhabitants.

QUESTION: What specific psychological traits would a realistic utopia have to accommodate? This hints at a deeper tension between ideal systems and human imperfection worth exploring.

SEED: An essay contrasting grand utopian designs with the psychological constraints of actual human nature could explore how ideals fail without accounting for self-interest, fear, and cognitive limits.

Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order a…, loc. 1035