I get even more exhausted than usual at kayak training, mess up a batch of wheatpaste, therefore delaying new year's eve preparations even more, discover part of the meat we had for tomorrow was unusable, finish for the day, come here and find out I missed out on the good discussions, while the current one's yet another morality discussion about Equestria vs. reality.

2012, I will see you in hell.

And I waste another pagetopper.

edited 30th Dec '12 6:48:15 PM by Lopiny

Well, actually the worst we've seen is an enslaving dictator, so there's that.

Ponies have knees, they're just higher up.

Goodnight for real this time.

Silly walks

G'night Apple.

I guess there is nothing inherently bad about the idea itself, I just don't really like the subtle (or not so subtle at times) implications that the only reason they are overcoming their problems is because they are better then us humans. Not to mention it just seems to fly in the face that ponies do in fact act like humans, hell we even got a taste of how nasty they could be in the past. And yes, we haven't seen ponies do some of the really nasty things that humans have done, but lets be honest is that because they are just like that? Or is it a product of the genre and demographic of the show itself. Keep in mind that if the show had been with humans very little would likely change in the characters personalities and the society.

My basic take is that crime in general is probably lower in Equestria. I mean, let's face it, based on what we've actually seen in the show, I don't think there's really any way to claim that Equestria has say, a violent crime rate comparable to reality.

Of course, we can argue it up and down all day, given that it comes down to interpretation in the end.

I think saying "the world is nice either because it is, or because it's a kids show" is a bit of a false dichotomy; the show can both be for kids, and also have a setting that just happens to be idealized. Because honestly, I don't find the converse much better; it's basically saying "idealized settings are for children". I'm not saying that adults should partake in childish escapism and not address the relevant issues, just that in the case of this particular show, the fact that it's choosing not to address the darker elements of human nature doesn't necessarily make the setting any less believable in itself.

Basically, I don't think the show is trying to portray a realistic picture of human society. That's not the point. The point is to show a slightly more idealized world to teach lessons. The point is to point at a situation and say "this is a good way of resolving the issue" with the point of getting people to resolve issues in this manner. It has to be at least slightly idealized, because if it wasn't it would be nonstop Family Unfriendly Aesop.

The question basically boils down to:

Is the setting realistic, and all the nasty stuff is just edited out because of the demographic?

or

Did the creators intentionally create an idealized setting to make imparting the lessons easier?

My personal view of it is that Equestria is basically to show what life could be like if people made an effort to be nicer. The ponies aren't necessarily better than people, but because there's so much encouragement to cooperate rather than an "everyone for themselves" mentality, life is much nicer for them.

edited 30th Dec '12 7:00:47 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Well it's how I walk.

Night Apple.

I almost said that, then thought better of it.

Alright, sorry for that little outburst.

Now I'm reminded of a fic I read where Twi and RD got into a write off, using romance as their topic. RD wrote like 100 pages of an obvious self insert having sex with the author of the Daring Do books. Then it turns out Daring Do's author is Twilight's mom. Then it turns out Rainbow already knew that and doesn't see why it's weird.

Hah, I remember reading that one. Meanwhile, Twilight

[wrote] some fantasy epic but getting way too detailed in the world building so nothing ends up happening for like a thousand pages.

They asked Rarity to be their judge and she declared them both the losers. :P

Evening everypony. What's going on?

Sorry if OT, but I finally forced my brother to watch the very first episode of the show tonight. I know he was exposed to the show through other means, but out-of-context pictures and clips aren't very representative of the series, so I showed him the first episode so he would know what it was like. After it was finished, despite me showing him some of the pony/heavy-metal fan art, as well as telling him that it has writers from Spongebob on it, he still doesn't get why people are obsessed over it. All I can say is...THANK GOD!

Now if you excuse me, I have to contemplate my life miserably knowing I may have just committed mortal sin...

edited 30th Dec '12 7:03:23 PM by x86x2

Well, a single episode isn't exactly representative either...

@Seraph

You seem to have quite the idealized view of the show, here.

A lack of organized religion outside of a few, obviously real, "deities" probably has something to do with that.

That would require the aforementioned zealotry.

Filthy Rich says hi.

They have law, so they must have lawyers. Unless you expect ponies not educated in the finer points of law to represent themselves in court?

Having an absolute monarch helps with that.

They're more or less pre-industrial. They don't need that much raw materials.

I shouldn't have to tell you why those are stupid things to use as examples.

We know crime exists. Are you saying that every single criminal is let off with a warning?

They've had over a thousand years to deal with the majority of their racism problems by founding a nation as a join effort. Various random mule comments go to show that casual racism is still a bit of a thing. Who's to say that there isn't the assorted person with more extreme sentiments? Gilda sure seemed to have a thing against ponies in general...

edited 30th Dec '12 7:02:19 PM by PerpetualLurker

@x86x2 Cool Story Bro.

edited 30th Dec '12 7:01:54 PM by DavidtheMouse14

Actually, you might as well. And don't say "because it's aimed at kids", because the whole question is "Do these things exist in the setting and we just don't see them because of the demographic, or do they just not exist in the setting period?"

-Has realized he has just walked into something he probably shouldn't have-

O hai Orion. So you getting a retest, or more training?

Anyways, I never did remember to ask you why you're taking training at the academy.

edited 30th Dec '12 7:06:13 PM by AceOfScarabs

   Flee while you can fool! Eheeheehee!   

edited 30th Dec '12 7:06:21 PM by TheFreeman

hops on back

Give me your bacon!

@Ace: OOC: I have yet to think of an interesting reason why he was there either.

It's basically the fact that nobody wants stories about that in this genre. This is fantasy-slice-of-life, not a crime drama or something like Game of Thrones. Take shows that are more or less set in the "real" world, like, say, Seinfeld. How often does a show like that acknowledge ongoing rape and genocide in the world? Does that mean that those don't exist in that universe? Could be, who knows? Nothing changes the fact that the show is never going to touch on them directly for sake of genre.

Hi, Orion.

Mild topic necro: Yes, the EQD episode followup was unusually good this week.

Hey look, it's Edvedd!!!

edited 30th Dec '12 7:15:37 PM by DavidtheMouse14

@Lurker: Technically speaking, the Changelings wanted to enslave the ponies for use as food, and several G1 villains wanted to wipe them out.