Dr. Stone - Tsukasa Shishio’s impossible dream?

I’m rewatching Dr. Stone, which I thoroughly enjoy, but always in the back of my mind is the fact that Tsukasa’s dream of a primitive-level civilization goes against human nature. Tired of sleeping on rocks? Invent first straw mattresses then other fillings. Want better food than leg of boar & grilled vegetables? You need better cooking utensils & pots. Better weapons? Advance metallurgy & synthetic materials. Want bread? Develop agriculture & farming equipment & ovens & yeast cultivation. Get tired on sitting on a cold stone throne in a drafty cave? Develop cushions. Freeze in the winter & bake in the summer? Invent looms & leather working.

People just naturally invent things to improve their lives. Progress comes from the pursuit of comfort. Your women think back on jewelry & want some, forcing you to develop needed technologies. Too many of your people die of disease, you can’t just ignore what you knew was possible with even basic drugs. Want better booze? Develop distillation.

While Tsukasa may have wanted a primitive life, & he didn’t revive thinkers & creators, people always long for comfort (particularly since everyone revived remember how things were). Even Gen switched sides because he wanted a Coke (ok, among other reasons).

Tsukasa could not have prevented progress in even the intermediate term, much less the long term.

Am I missing something here?

Voir le contenu lié

Commentaires

Astray2026-01-15 02:12

Nope, that's why Senku was completely fine taking such risks against him. Even if he lost he was comfortable with the fact that science prevails in the end no matter what. Someone else would have defeated Tsukasa even if he lost, and if that wasn't good enough, age would've eventually ended his rule. Meanwhile Science is literally deathless as it is the passing down of knowledge through the ages. Human curiosity will always give birth to and continue science in the long run.

CertifiedBedophile2026-01-15 02:23

yes, primitivism is dumb /thread

Shadowblaze2002026-01-15 02:41

His plan was to just force everyone to follow his ideals with his overwhelming strength. And honestly, it would have worked if Senku wasn't in the picture, which is why he tried to take him out first.

But as you said, this only would work in the short term. Eventually Tsukasa would grow old, get weaker, and eventually die. Unless he trained successors to carry his ideals forward with the same strength, people would get tired of the primitive lifestyle and inevitably start to innovate.

Senku points this out himself when he meets Chrome, a natural "primitive", doing DIY science experiments because he was naturally curious.

Versaith2026-01-15 04:21

I think if Tsukasa could have stomped out all scientific genius types like Senku it would have slowed down the progress massively. More like hundreds of years to rebuild a society. With Senku around, Ryusui is already introducing a cash-based society within a few years. Without Senku or others like him, Tsukasa probably could have lived out his own natural life without too much technological progress, especially if he kept the number of revived people low.

Also something being inevitable doesn't mean it's not worth fighting against. I exercise most days even though I know I'll end up weak and frail if I live long enough. Tsukasa wanted his ideal society to last as long as it could. To do further apologetics, Tsukasa is an emotional non-genius character, he doesn't have to have a fully justified world view and plan, he may have simply not thought that far ahead about the inevitability of progress.

What I find interesting and I don't think the series points out itself is that Tsukasa hates the modern world's rules and economic system because they are used to oppress the people and benefit the few, but in Tsukasa's system it was no different, only what defined who was in control was physical prowess not economics. For anyone outside of Tsukasa or his top few henchmen, it wasn't a nice system to live under.

ussgordoncaptain22026-01-15 05:51

[dr stone season 4]>!I feel like the americans already have rebuilt a *lot* of modern technology and could easily learn how revival fluid happens eventually, then it would quickly spiral back into normality with the americans going america fuck yeah all over the world!<

Zado1912026-01-15 04:37

He killed bears and tigers with his bare hands

jsusk242026-01-15 04:46

Did you realize that the Ishigami people lived relatively well with no wars for 3000 years in a prehistoric socialist community?

Modern history and capitalism has only existed for hundreds of years while prehistoric communities lasted thousands of years.

No, it wasn't a fools dream. As long as you don't discover agriculture you can live a happy primitive life.

Herson1002026-01-15 05:08

I think that, when you think of Tsukasa's primitivist society, you might be imagining ancient Mesopotamia or Egypt or something. What he tried to build was even more primitive than that. Pre-agricultural life was insanely tedious, to the point where the majority of teenagers and adults had to spend nearly all of their waking hours working just to keep the community alive. Infant mortality was extremely high, and the average life expectancy was under 40 even *without* factoring in people who died under the age of 1.

Many infections and diseases that are trivial nowadays were a death sentence back then. Tsukasa planned on reviving petrified people who were from modern times - there is no way that, long term, they would go along with him.

I think you're onto something about Tsukasa having socialist tendencies. I think that the biggest mistake in his thinking is that he believes that modern technology and capitalism are intertwined, and that the only way to prevent capitalism is to practice primitivism.

The_Parsee_Man2026-01-15 05:46

Relatively well, dying of pneumonia at age 20. The idea that primitive life is in any way desirable is utterly naive.

Minus anyone with technical knowledge it could have continued a long time. But all the modern people he was reviving had some technical knowledge. Most people couldn't make sulfate antibiotics but everyone knows about penicillin coming from mold. People would start putting things together and one guy who wants to live like an animal couldn't stop it.