thinking maybe (at least partly) i like pot for very similar reasons as those for why i like sci-fi: the cool ideas. also, entertaining these ideas takes my mind off... off what? the daunting problems of life? how much of it is escapism? is there a certain level of escapism that's healthy? it'd probably vary from individual to individual.
even those times when i dont have cool ideas come into my head while high, there's often at least that time of feeling... relief? all of a sudden problems are at an arm's length, affording some breathing room.
what would have to change in my life for me to be happy without the distractions of pot/alcohol/sci-fi (or other cool stories/ideas)? what would a life like that be like? to just be happily engaged with the world, not seeking escape from it? to be active in the world, and derive enough satisfaction from these action as to keep us coming back for more?
perhaps these "escapes" could alternatively be looked at as attempts at bringing that kind of world about for ourselves - a world of enjoyment from whatever happens to tickle our fancies: drugs, partying, sex, certain kind of movies/books/stories/ideas, in short: gratifying experiences of one sort or another.
so maybe people who have successful businesses get a kick out of what they do, which means they happily devote more of their time to their businesses.
maybe we end up doing what we like enough, and we like things more the better we are at these things. maybe humanity is a lot more unconsciously self-organized than we'd like to think: maybe we DO end up performing functions that we are best suited for in the circumstances we find ourselves. you can only be yourself, and for one person that means being a mechanic and a softball coach, while for another it could be being an accountant, then as they mature and develop - a business owner. some might be suited and have the opportunity to be able to change their circumstance, while others not.
a society could be engineered, by finding out, or at least estimating, the full potential of its members, and then putting them in circumstances which would allow (or push) these individuals to achieve that full potential. i guess there would have to be some overriding aims of such a society, which would decide what best use to make of every individual available in the society. for example, if 50% of a society was found to be best and happiest at being movie critics, such a society would not last very long, unless they were able to export these movie critics in exchange for some good farmers for example.
i think society design will be done best by artificial intelligence. and it will be done at our own behest. probably not all of us, but some humans'.

watching the movie "Prometheus" and loving it :) am about half way thru it, and a few interesting possibilities have occurred to me, and i'm curious to see whether any of them come to pass in this movie.
- i'm wondering whether these worms are seeding these planets with its favourite foods, or material for troops, or something. and then once in a while a "harvest" reports its readiness and is then, um, harvested, as it were, or perhaps a mining operation starts up, the ore being humanoid cattle. in this case - us. i wonder if it is worms. what with some contributing company during the intro credits being named "Dune"...
the tunnels look to me like they're made by worms.
and then agendas. the crazy hick geologist - just in it for the money. then charlize therone 's character. and then David! and the boss of the company (Weyland?)! and the dissimilarity of characters of the married scientist couple.
and charlize therone's character probably IS an android, too! and she probably doesnt even know it! :o
how bladerunner! :) (or androids dreaming of electric sheep-ish :D)

some things in this story just seem too implausible. like the utter carelesness, nay - stupidity! - of the whole crew taking off their helmets. or the fact that they would just go galavanting around this planet, without dispatching some drones to explore the place a bit first. but i suppose there wouldnt be as much drama then. but what good is drama when its set-up is so not believable?
i suppose it could have been like charllize therone's character said - the old guy needed some real believers. perhaps that was true of all the choices for all the crew members - perhaps the make-up of the whole crew  was engineered according to their character profiles. the cheapest candidates that fit the profiles were chosen. the ever present economical pressure. it just seems like charlize therone's character (what the hell IS her name?!) is like layer 1 of the company boss' presence to care for his vested interests, and david is layer 2. wonder if there is a layer 3...
is there then going to be a creation destroying its creator? as in the old company owner destroying the alien race that created us? or does that just get us to level 2c of a massive tree of tests designed to let species like ours chart out all the possible ways of being of beings resultant from planetary life packet profile 238H-53/67c?