brave new world by aldous huxley "where is the life we have lost in living? where is the wisdom...
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1. How would you feel if we had a dress code based on IQ, so that we’d be identified by a certain colored clothing? And you could only hang out with people who wore the same color?TRANSCRIPT
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley"Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"
T.S. Eliot
Aldous Huxley Born July 26, 1894 Grew up in the English intellectual
elite At 16 an eye illness left him nearly
blind Lived in England, Europe, and the U.S. Wrote 47 books, many essays, screen-
plays, etc Died November 22, 1963
1. How would you feel if we had a dress code based on IQ, so that we’d be identified by a certain colored clothing? And
you could only hang out with people who wore the
same color?
2. How would you feel if the government told
you what job you would be allowed to hold, based on your
IQ?
3. What if the government gave you
free birth control (encouraging sexual promiscuity) and free drugs (to combat your
feelings of anxiety and/or depression)?
4.What would you be giving up to go along with these new “rules” of
society?
Read the first two paragraphs. ANSWER:
5. What do you think the motto means?
6. List all of the descriptive words in the 2nd paragraph that set the mood.
UPTOPIA vs. DYSTOPIA
Utopia: “an imaginary place … a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and
social conditions”
Dystopia: “an imaginary place which
is depressingly wretched and whose people live a fearful
existence”
BNW is a DYSTOPIA
In Huxley’s own words . . . “the
advancement of science as it affects human individuals.”
What is the theme of BNW?
Huxley is seeking to warn us against
scientific utopianism.
BNW is a SATIREHuxley is satirizing the
social and scientific developments of the
first few decades of the 20th century.
Economic Context
Written in 1931, published in 1932, afterWorld War I (1914-1918)The stock market crash (1929)
Henry Ford/Mass ProductionProduction of Model T began in 1908
Standard interchangeable parts and assembly-line production (1913)
Economic Context (cont’d)
The Model “T” Ford
E:\Henry_Ford__The_Model_T_and_the_Model_A.asf
Scientific ContextBiology
cloninggenetic manipulation
Psychologyclassical conditioning (Pavlov)behavior modification (reward & punishment )
sleep teaching (hypnopaedia)use of propaganda
Scientific Context (cont’d)
Classical Conditioning A form of learning in which a reflexive or automatic response transfers from one stimulus to another.
“Pavlov’s Dog”
Using the New Science for Social ControlControlling reproduction
ectogenesiseugenics (cloning)chemical conditioning
Controlling behaviorClassical conditioning HypnopaediaPsychopharmacology – “soma”
Using the New Science for Social Control
What is soma?A hangover-less tranquilizer—
like an opiate combined with Prozac.
Provides a mindless, “imbecile happiness”—an escapism which makes people comfortable with their lack of freedom.
Do We Have a BNW Today? Controlling behavior
public educationnationalism
Controlling reproductionSex without kidsKids without sex
Conditioning in Advertising
Moral Concerns on Genetic Engineering…Genetic engineering treats
children as products.Does the ability to control the characteristics of future generations limit their freedom?
Genetic engineering will reduce genetic diversity.