We Are Surrounded By Fictions Because They Are Useful

One of them is the law. But fictions aren’t always bad.

Photo by Aziz Acharki

For centuries parents have threatened their children with the idea of a monster of some sort that will come and take them if they don’t behave. The start of our century, for all its flaws and horrors, is thankfully starting to reject child traumatisation as a viable approach to upbringing.

However, our society is certainly bound together by myriad fictions like this one. The first one that comes to mind is the law. Oh yes. The Law.

‘Oh, but the law is very much real!’ both the lawful citizen and the petty criminal will cry. I guess it’s real insofar as we accept that if we do something that the law deems unlawful, we pay the consequences in a very real way.

The law, nevertheless, is different depending on where and when we live; change the where and the when, and we might find ourselves in trouble or seen as a fool for abiding by such ridiculous principles as those of 21st century Europe, for example. It is hard to imagine condemning a Roman emperor for his utter lack of consideration for human rights. The same applies to the thought of passing a law in favour of fair trade produce at the height of the North Atlantic slave trade. How about women’s right to vote in Ancient Greece? And in…