Brave New World
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World paints a grim picture of what the future may hold. Through many scientific and technological advances, the lifestyle of the people in the novel has been changed dramatically from that of today. Although technological advances are currently seen in a positive light, Huxley warns us of the perils which can accompany these innovations if they are not controlled. This leads to the question of whether science and technology can improve our lives. In Brave New World, genetic engineering, the replacement of religion, the sanctioned use of drugs, and social conditioning have combined to lead to the metamorphosis in lifestyle. In the novel, Huxley illustrates how these advances can have a detrimental effect to life; however, if used correctly they can have a tremendous improvement on people's quality of life. Genetic engineering is one of the most evident technological impacters on this new society. All of the babies are born with no mother and father at a hatchery. At this hatchery their future was predetermined as their intelligence was programmed depending upon their future roles; those destined to the lower classes are given less oxygen circulation so that they are kept below par. In many ca
Another area where science and technology has changed the world is religion. Through the use of this drug, Huxley comments on our society and its fixation on using medicine and drugs to solve problems rather than actually dealing with them. In this world no-one is ever alone and no-one ages. Few would argue that Brave New World is a picture of a world gone awry with gross misuse of science and technology. This cannot be allowed to happen due to the loss of rights and liberty associated with programming the human mind, and the cruelty involved - Pavlov's experiments were objected to due to the cruelty to the dogs; in this case it is much worse. However, in order to avoid the outcome achieved in the book, genetic engineering must not be used as a replacement for natural conception but only as a tool where it is required. This is due to his introduction of the assembly line and how this has revolutionized society; its importance can be seen as they now keep track of years based on the time since Ford has died instead of Jesus Christ. However, this is alright because there are no major problems anyways in this "ideal society. In fact, this area is the one for which it is most important that strict regulations be placed on its use in order to prevent what has happened in the book. Hypnopaedia could be used as a learning tool for children, yet it would have to be very carefully controlled. " While the application of genetic engineering in Brave New World leads to disastrous results, it can be applied to benefit society. Science and technology is the new religion, with Henry Ford having replaced God. Religion is a way to structure society; in the past, the supreme authority was the church. This Bokanovsky's process is the model for efficient production of humans: "the principle of mass production at last applied to biology" (5).
Common topics in this essay:
Brave World,
Christ God,
Down's Syndrome,
Henry Ford,
brave world,
genetic engineering,
science technology,
huxley's brave world,
religion science technology,
Huxley's Brave,
science technology improve,
genetic engineering replacement,
pavlov's experiments,
technological advances,
shock therapy,
social conditioning,
huxley's brave,
technology improve,
drug soma,
|