Shin Sekai Yori - Episode 4 Discussion / Poll
 

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After reading through the general thread for episode 4, this episode is still confusing. Yes, there were a ton of data given to us, but then again, it brought up a lot of question. Most of the question is "how come?" or "what happened?"

Out of all the information given, nothing was stated about the queerats. How did they come to being? Are they mutated humans?

I love this series.

It didn't seem really confusing. For me it was more that the episode was tacitly posing more questions than the amount of answers it was giving.

I like that approach to mystery, and my favourite types of mysteries are the ones revolving the setting, so I'm okay with all the information that is being held as of now. I hope the reveals are progressive and well handled, and not an exposition talk at ep 23 or something like that.

"Resolve the stress/conflict through sexual contact."
http://i.imgur.com/XTpxBl.jpg
Saki thinking "Damn it!" while the rest going "o.o"

10/10!!!!!!!!!

It's funny how apparently scientists created the society the kids live in, but that society looks completely based on religion.

What I found most interesting was their society supposedly developed from the group that kept the knowledge of technology and yet the concept of technology still seems to have been completely wiped from the society.

Of course there was the library which seems to be a remnant of a technological society but according to the man that took their powers it’s “a demon”. Now is that because of the information it disclosed or because of something else.

Additionally while I trust what the library was saying is at least partially correct, I wonder if there is still information missing. That perhaps it shouldn’t be trusted completely, that there are still holes to be filled.

Also I find the concept that you feel intense pain if you want to harm someone to be pretty fascinating. But I guess something like that had to have developed when you see how easy it was to harm someone with their power. But then it’s more fascinating that their supposedly non-violent society is not by free will but by something controlling them and what would happen if that control was gone…

Still there are theories that we don’t kill each other because of biological reasons too so it's not much different lol.

However, the rat people (or whatever) don’t seem to have the same controls and it seems they can be harmed (although it still affected the priest). I personally believe the rat people are humans that devolved somehow: they are less than human according to that society but still very much human.

Let's not forget that "the library" said almost nothing about what happened during the last 500 years!

The most intense first 15 minutes in all the anime's I saw this year. Had to see it twice to fully understand. Now I can't wait for the next episode.

Great ep, still more mystery, can't wait to see how the drama unfolds... SSY is my most anticipate anime this season.

Indeed, we don't know much about what happened in the past 500 years. Only that the scientists attempted to build a peaceful society of PKers. Are they still in charge? Doubtful. If they were, there would probably be more technology around, and knowledge of past history wouldn't be forbidden.

There are still a lot of mysteries to uncover.

It is pretty much spelled out through Shun that the scientist faction is in fact in control of the current society. The various methods that were introduced to restrict PK users from abusing their powers - genetic manipulation, psychological conditioning, social engineering, etc, are even more proof of that. The question, however, needs to be asked is that why did they choose to abandon certain technologies or at least hidden their use from plain view.

I'm reluctant to accept anything the kids say as being more probable than our random speculations. The way Shun said it, he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

I also don't think that the scientists are still in charge. The scientific rules and practices are now a religion. Something else must have happened within the last 500 yrs. Maybe there's another living library that could give us the answer if they find it.

The scientists being in charge and the whole 'religion' thing are reconciliable with some explanations akin to the Bonobos explanation we had this ep.

Maybe religion is a much more effective form of mass manipulation than just being transparent and having the -non mystical, less fearsome- technology and science out in the open. The population feels more compelled to obey divine rules and dogmas regarding their 'Cantus' than just abiding by traditional, liberal democracy-like laws about their 'PK'.

Just a thought. Seeing as how the latest 500 years are left in the void, it is entirely possible that the technocrats were replaced, wiped out, or just faded away and left the rest of the world totally ignorant about the very basis of the society they live in.

Thoughts on that exploding creature at the end? I'm leaning 60:40 between bio-tech and PK.

Maybe I'll give a 5% chance that the kids are delusional because of heavy hypnosis and the Queerats are really powerless humans. And one dying guy set off some explosives he had on him.

That reminds me: motive. Why attack the monk? And didn't they know how dangerous he was? The Library told us a bit about the past but there are still so many mysteries.

The thing called itself a library. Looked like some really high tech storage device to me.
Unless you meant the thing at the very end of the episode.

I believe the reason why the scientists used religion as a means to make the perfect society is because they are less likely to question it. When you have a religion, things are what they appear to be and hardly anyone gives a second thought about it. Anyone who breaks away from the norm is weeded out like the plague.

I think the scientists are still in charge, as leaders in the society, the system doesn't look self sustainable as with evidence of so many people vanishing.

Just because the science faction are in control does not mean they cannot use religion as a tool to shape society, at least for a period of time. That's precisely what the foundation did during the early rise out of the dark ages to control the warlord systems near Terminus.

There are no other faction that can apply genetic manipulation to introduce the wolf trait as well shame to death trait. The fact that the kids and the monk are still under the effect of these genetic modification is one sign that the scientist are still on control.

The school and the social control that removes trouble some kids is another sign. It takes knowledge and training in psycho analysis to accurately predict the correct candidates to be eliminated. The system being used in the school, family and the 'religion' are psychological conditioning that would require science faction to maintain.

The library said that the scientific group was responsible for still publishing books in the first 500 years after the fall of civilization. This same group was responsible for all the observations about the Holy Cherry Blossom Empire that's why the library had so much information about it.
And yet later the same library said that there are no reliable sources in the past 500 years.
The only logical conclusion one can draw from this is that the scientific group no longer exist because if they did there would be plenty of reliable sources for the library in the past 500 years.

And if the scientific group no longer exist they can't be in control of the society. I'm guessing they were wiped out and replaced by a religious group which took over the local customs. Or the scientific society turned into a religious one.

The records were complete up to the demise of the slave dynasties some 570 years after the war is because the science faction were on the side lines observing and keeping records. Once they took action, they may have choose not to actively record the actions they themselves take in the public archive such as the library. The minoshiro are a fairly recent phenomena also, as in the last a couple hundred years. Who else could have created them besides the scientists?

IMO the religion is but a facade. A means to enact control over the current society. It's a mask for psychological conditioning and social terra-forming. I highly doubt those higher up in charge believe in the religion at all except as a damping mechanism that works well in keeping PK users in check.