Sources:
Ancient, Biblical, and Medieval Traditions

Although the history of utopias proper begins with Thomas More’s famous work of 1516, ideal societies have been a part of human existence since the beginning of recorded history. Before More coined the word "utopia," these places went by names as varied as Paradise, the Garden of Eden, the New Jerusalem, the Promised Land, Prester John’s Kingdom, the Island of Saint Brendan, the City of God, the City of Ladies, and the Land of Cockaigne. Occupying the distant realms of the afterlife, legend, faith, and myth, these societies were inhabited by a select population of the just, the blessed, or the exceptionally virtuous. To arrive at any of them required a metaphysical transformation from one’s flawed, human self into a being worthy of inclusion in these special places. This conversion was achieved through death, a dream, the whim of the gods, the grace of God, a spiritual pilgrimage, philosophical enlightenment, or the purification of the soul.

Like many ideal societies, these places offered antidotes to the painful realities of daily human existence. In the Land of Cockaigne, an overabundance of food assured that no one went hungry, and an insistence on laziness provided rest and comfort. The high wall surrounding the City of Ladies protected women and their virtue, and the far-off lands described by Marco Polo and Alexander the Great offered up gold, exotic spices, and the fountain of immortality.

In the ongoing search for the ideal society, the Internet has been proposed as a "place" in which an ideal society could exist. Take the poll to help you think about and give your opinion on the Internet as a utopia.
printing instructions