In the grand scheme of things, fantasy is just as important as anything else on this great rock that we call Earth, or even in this great space we call the universe. Yes, the fantastical is just as vital as the food you eat or the sleep you need. I wholeheartedly believe this (and most likely all crazy people). In fact, I argue that it is one of the main reasons we’ve gotten so far in life today. Humans have progressed so much in such a short amount of time, compared to other species. With what humanity started out with, simple rocks and twigs, it’s hard to believe we made all this. Trains, planes, cars, computers, soap etc. But that’s just it. The only reason we got here was because we believed we could do it. We believe we can improve and make the impossible all because we have the imagination to make it up. And all this want to make the next greatest thing as an adult all started out with tales we were told in our childhood.
It’s no secret that we were told lies as children. The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the idea that Nickelback was a good band. All of it was told to give us an extra bit of wonder in this world. Well, except for Nickelback. That was just plain rude of our parents to say such a horrible lie! (If you’re reading this, Nickelback, please don’t come after me). They gave us that little twinkle in our eye that made life magical. Even in the past when these stories didn’t exist there were other fantasies to be told to children (maybe they were a bit bloodier but so was the times). Then, as we grew up, leaving behind the old stories of our youth, we kept some of the meaning with us, applying them to our adult lives. Truth, mercy and even justice. So, as odd as it sounds, fantasies make up the human experience. It’s what drove humanity to become what it is today. A society of thinkers, doers. We wouldn’t have gotten far with knowing the stars or planets if someone didn’t look up and say “I wonder what those are.” But, most certainly humanity wouldn’t have gotten to this point if someone didn’t think of applying justice to their actions.
When people spun yarns for the towns folk around the camp fire they depicted heroes defeating monsters. The weak protected from the strong. Mercy was brought to those who did good. Fantasy is what makes people act like people. Without fantasy, without that twinkle in our eye when we were young we wouldn’t be able to act quite right as an adult. In a way, as Death would say “Humans need fantasy to be human.” But the Death I’m speaking of comes from Terry Pratchett’s Disworld. But, more specifically, his story Hogfather which is one of the many Disworld novels. Death talks to his granddaughter, Susan, about the concept of fantasy for humans. Here is the conversation:
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
“MY POINT EXACTLY.”
As Death says, justice, mercy, duty and any other sense of good nature is nothing but lies we tell ourselves. In truth, that is exactly what that is. The universe is not made of justice, it is not made of mercy. We bring about mercy. We bring about the goodness that we want to live with. Death says they’re all lies, but these lies make a human what they are. A human. The fantasies of childhood, the small lies our parents told us, made us believe in justice and mercy as an end. A good end. The kind of end we need. The kind of end that we all need to believe in or else we’re just following what the universe gave us. And that’s no fun! Where are the dragons?
