Why are we fasCinAted by dystopian worlds?

Here's my first 'real' post on my new blog and website, so I'll start with something related to my last project, The Never Dawn Trilogy. 

Why are books and movies set in dystopian worlds so popular? 

First, a definition of dystopia...

  an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.

Obviously, not a nice place in which to live... even the word, 'totalitarian' sends a shiver down my spine. And let's face it, an enviro...