I think utopias would be by definition perfectly good, and the fact that they sound boring to current humans is more a symptom of Darwinian evolution (we can’t be happy without narrative and challenges). If satisfaction is biochemical, future humans juiced up on a satisfaction drug forever would—again—by definition be perfectly happy with the utopian condition of their world; few humans today would choose that future though. Thus I think the problem with describing utopia is not that utopia designs are flawed, but that literature itself—which necessitates narrative change and tension building and challenges etc—is incompatible with true utopias.
I think utopias would be by definition perfectly good, and the fact that they sound boring to current humans is more a symptom of Darwinian evolution (we can’t be happy without narrative and challenges). If satisfaction is biochemical, future humans juiced up on a satisfaction drug forever would—again—by definition be perfectly happy with the utopian condition of their world; few humans today would choose that future though. Thus I think the problem with describing utopia is not that utopia designs are flawed, but that literature itself—which necessitates narrative change and tension building and challenges etc—is incompatible with true utopias.