It is surprising perhaps but very common for people to fantasize irrespective of age, gender or status. Reasons might be manifold and in most cases it’s harmless. Fantasy is something people try out in their heads. It is something imaginative, daydreaming of sorts that people play out in their heads. Psychology has enough literature in seeking to probe the fantasy in the people. Fantasies might be sexual or otherwise, they have their uses. If there were to be an interior world in which people inhabit within themselves, fantasies are normal part of it. The way they manifest in reality might be different with some seeking to come out in the form of actual play or in some cases as work of some art of fiction. Fantasies might be about past or about future or about the alternate present. It is about alternate reality that people seek to experience but perhaps are unable to.
It is natural that one seeks to decode why people seem to fantasize. In other words, there must exist a theoretical justification for construction of fantasy. To some, the fantasy might remain in their mind. To others, it might emerge as some stories or blogs on the internet or in some publications. To some, these fantasies would manifest outwardly in terms of fiction or maybe play or a skit. There might be a hint of fantasy one creates a movie or even watch a movie or for that matter a soap opera on television. There might be a few who would experiment their fantasies in reality especially in realm of sex. Lot of sexual play does have its roots in the people seeking to manifest their fantasies in reality. In some cases, people might prefer to discuss in oral through relationship forums, bulletin boards or social media posts. There are others who fantasize about the future, the way they are going to about their tasks at hand or in seeking to achieve their ambitions. To some, it might be a way of dealing with the past in the ways they could have done better and seek to accumulate the experience curve through avoidance of mistakes in the future. On the whole, it is apparent the phenomenon of fantasy is something common.
When one seeks to theorize the same, there would exist many options of diagnostic kits if one might were to term it. There would naturally be an attempt to decode the same in terms of psychology but economics gives equally powerful tools and some good explanations for the same. Therefore, it is tempting to understand the phenomenon of fantasy through the prism of economics. The theory of economics posits that economic agents strive for utility maximization on the demand side while the production side views the objective of profit maximization. This would be the point of beginning. The economic agents want to maximize their utility yet in pursuit of the same, there are numerous constraints. As one noticed, the fantasy is about daydreaming or imagination of what might be desired but perhaps not possible to achieve in most circumstances. Therefore in these circumstances, it would be seeking to maximize the utility given the constraints. The fantasy happens to those contexts that are out of bound at that moment at least. Utility maximization is best understood through the concept of indifference. In consuming a basket of goods, there exists combinations that would keep the agent indifferent between the various combinations. Yet the choice of combination is subject to the constraint. A number of choices are outside of the constraint line or what is popularly called the budget line. It is the pursuit of these indifference curves outside the budget line that gives manifestation to the fantasy. Fantasy is constructed in seeking to fulfil those desires that are outside the budget line at least for that moment.
Some of these fantasies are sought to be built up through construction of fiction. To a fiction writer, there are fantasies being imagined. Yet there is no possibility of achievement of the same. But there nevertheless exists a desire to achieve. The outcome of the same would be the construction of fantasy fiction. It might be also to cater to the latent demand for fantasy fiction. Either way, the fiction has arisen out of ‘off-bound indifference curves’. The movies too represent the same context. Movies highlight fantasy scenarios in order to let the economic agents acting as audience fulfil their desires of not experiencing the fantasy in real life. The movie represents in many instances of what might have been theoretically possible or desirable but real life constraints do not permit the same. At this context, it might be prudent to dig out the theory behind the buildup of fantasy literature or art as catering to certain latent demand.
Towards this one has to look at the theory of second best advocated by Richard Lipsey and Kevin Lancaster. In their assertion, if there exists an economic condition where optimality might not be possible, the solution lies in seeking to change the values of other variables thus making them deviate from the existing optimality. This is what is sought to be leveraged in the construction of fantasy art and literature. There is no optimal solution in many ways for people to fulfil their fantasies. Yet there exists a latent demand for the same. This latent demand is what is fulfilled through the consumption of literature, art, videos, movies, television shows, music, paintings, and drama among others. The industry of pornography arises in this context.
In fact, it is not just about the media mentioned above, but it extends to various posts that keep happening on the online discussion forums. It is virtually impossible to segregate the real from fiction. The questions asked in Quora too represent the same as does the answers. In fact there are many answers which might be fictitious catering to the demand of the audience. These phenomenon is something subject to the existence of demand which does create a supply. The demand is an attempt to fulfil the off-bound indifference curves while seeking to satisfy through the concept of the second best theory. The explanation is an attempt using economics to decode the fantasy seeking agent and perhaps the just the beginning of the hypothesis that needs to be validated with greater evidence something to be done in the future posts.
Thoughts on Theory and Practice 