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Author(s): Elise Boulding
“How does anyone ever learn a really new thing? Since utopias are by definition ‘new,’ ‘not-yet,’ ‘other,’ human beings will be able to function in them in ways that do not throw us back to the old order only if we pay enough attention to the learning. Wishful thinking about the desired transformation of consciousness as an inevitable historical process distracts us from studying the difficult disciplines that will make transformation possible.”
This quote comes from "Chapter 2: The Passion for Utopia" where Boulding provides 1) an overview of the role of utopian images in fostering social change, 2) and trends, challenges, and tensions of various utopian paradigms (ie mechanistic vs organic, centralized vs decentralized, restructuring vs re-education). Here she argues that structural reform itself is insufficient, and that the only way for humans to "evolve along with the society" is through intentional learning supporting peace.