'Interested?' Geser asked without looking up.

'Uh-huh...what is it?'

'A simulation. You know I like to study self-contained social groups.'

'And what does this simulation represent?'

'A very interesting social structure,' Geser said evasively. 'In its basic form it should have become the traditional jar of spiders. But here we have two principal spiders, one of whom has taken up a dominant position by climbing onto a high point, while the other is acting as if he is providing protection against external aggression and caring for the members of the community. As long as the dominant spiders remain active, this simulation can continue to function with minimal internal aggression. I just have to spray the inhabitants with beer every now and then to relax them.'

'But doesn't anyone ever try to climb out?' Ilya asked. 'There's no lid...'

'Only very rarely. And only the ones who get fed up of being a spider in a jar. In the first place, the illusion of conflict is constantly maintained. And in the second place, the experimental subjects regard being in a jar as something out of the ordinary.'

Sergei Lukyanenko: The Last Watch - Book 2

Egész jó kis trilógia, csak éppen Lukyanenkonál a jók a kollektivisták, a Sötét oldal pedig az individualistákból áll. És az orosz nemzeti érzés is igen erős.

De azért nem ennyire fekete és fehér a dolog.

Épp újraolvastam, gondoltam, tetszeni fog.