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.