Honestly, It really isn’t that bad at all. The reason we think its so bad is because of the way we were raised and what we are taught and the way we allow our human race to develop. We allow ourselves to develop naturally. We do allow our parents to ‘condition’ us if you want to think of being raised as conditioning. If we were conditioned like in Brave New World, nothing would be wrong with the world. There would be a few people once in a while like Bernard, but you just either get rid of them in the embryo stage or exile them to an island.
Especially if the entire world has the same thought process, it just makes it more right. If you can even say more right? The world can’t really be labeled right or wrong I don’t think because it is all based off the way we were raised and our morals. If we were conditioned and whispered things to believe, this brave new world would be perfect.
Now in reality, our reality, right here right now, this truly is a horrifying concept. For us, a people that believes in individuality, and feeling and thinking for yourself, it is a nightmare. Its everything we are told not to believe.
But because I don’t really think the world can be right or wrong, I don’t think either our world or Huxley’s fictional world are right, or good or bad, or evil, or wrong, or lovely.
But the other part I wanted to mention was that whenever Lenina repeats a prethought phrase, and Bernard responds with the amount of times it was repeated and the years it was repeated. I thought it was.. beautiful? Can I say that? Because I think that is the only word that really works.
ALSOOOO. The ending is ANNOYYYYYYING. I understand that things have to play out a certain way to convey the right message, but I kinda felt like it was a cop out. But I know its not so don’t JUMP DOWN MY THROATTTTTT. Okay. See you tomorrow.
Im sure the first thing I will say will be “THIS BOOK IS CREEPER” or something to that effect.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
you cannot understand your existence
Their conversation I feel is not really that of civilization. I feel like is more about what is old and new and what progress means. They talk about God and why they don’t teach of him or of something like him. They teach of Ford, but he is a known real man. He does not have any power. He is just the milestone and a way of thinking that makes him their ‘god’. They don’t talk about God, or of Shakespeare because they are old. They keep people in the past. They also know that people will continue to like them and that will keep them in the past. If they like things of the past, they cant move forward. Without moving forward, there is no consumption, and the entire purpose of life is consumption, and stabilization.
“What you need is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here”
I think what John means is that because no one feels anything they are getting nothing out of life. Their soma takes them out of reality and the never have to deal with anything. To John the purpose of life is to survive. He feels pain and love and fear. He cant understand why no one else can, and why no one else would want to.
“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
John doesn’t want the stability that this world provides. The stability inhibits him from feeling anything. Having extremes and having to deal with those extremes are what make life, life to John. Because John knows the feeling of ‘uncomfort’ he knows what it feels like to live. Without more than one feeling you cannot truly know you are alive, and can’t understand your existence.
“What you need is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here”
I think what John means is that because no one feels anything they are getting nothing out of life. Their soma takes them out of reality and the never have to deal with anything. To John the purpose of life is to survive. He feels pain and love and fear. He cant understand why no one else can, and why no one else would want to.
“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
John doesn’t want the stability that this world provides. The stability inhibits him from feeling anything. Having extremes and having to deal with those extremes are what make life, life to John. Because John knows the feeling of ‘uncomfort’ he knows what it feels like to live. Without more than one feeling you cannot truly know you are alive, and can’t understand your existence.
control is more than just force
Sex is used as a method of control because the condition people as children to believe it is nothing more than something for pleasure. By letting them play ‘erotic games’ they leave them believing that the only point is for fun. It is there for a man to have a woman. (im sure this is where dooley is going to go into the fact that this book is sexist. Which it is, but I think it helps the book have meaning. But I am also sure we will talk about this in class) By letting them believe this, they will no longer have the desire to have sex to reproduce. They condition the women to take contraceptives without even thinking, to control their reproduction. They also let them believe it to be unethical to become pregnant, and be a mother.
Games control people because they are made so complex, so that they are more expensive and cause more consumption. The soul purpose of recreation is to enhance consumption.
The same goes for phrases like ending is better than mending. If they throw their clothes away, they have to buy new ones, and then they are not wasting time.
Also something while I am on the issue of time, one of the ‘best’ I guess you could say, lines is when Lenina asks what time if for if not for wasting. I’m sure there are plenty of quotes that professional literary analyzers will pull out to summarize the novel, but this is what I would say summarizes it perfectly. Everything they do is to waste time. They don’t really do anything. They don’t even really think. They just think prethought thoughts. Bernard has some of his own thoughts, but that is what hurts him in the end. When he tries to get Lenina to think the same things he does, she gets scared and upset and has to repeat her prethought thoughts, and take soma.
Also soma was one of the main things that controlled them. First I just thought it was something they there just conditioned to take so they didn’t have to deal with reality, even their reality. Then I realized it was a religion substitute. Weirdest thing ever. Except its really not the weirdest thing ever because it pretty much is the same thing is religion. But again I’m sure we will talk about this in class.
Games control people because they are made so complex, so that they are more expensive and cause more consumption. The soul purpose of recreation is to enhance consumption.
The same goes for phrases like ending is better than mending. If they throw their clothes away, they have to buy new ones, and then they are not wasting time.
Also something while I am on the issue of time, one of the ‘best’ I guess you could say, lines is when Lenina asks what time if for if not for wasting. I’m sure there are plenty of quotes that professional literary analyzers will pull out to summarize the novel, but this is what I would say summarizes it perfectly. Everything they do is to waste time. They don’t really do anything. They don’t even really think. They just think prethought thoughts. Bernard has some of his own thoughts, but that is what hurts him in the end. When he tries to get Lenina to think the same things he does, she gets scared and upset and has to repeat her prethought thoughts, and take soma.
Also soma was one of the main things that controlled them. First I just thought it was something they there just conditioned to take so they didn’t have to deal with reality, even their reality. Then I realized it was a religion substitute. Weirdest thing ever. Except its really not the weirdest thing ever because it pretty much is the same thing is religion. But again I’m sure we will talk about this in class.
really? this is ridic...
What are you talking about ‘its hard to predict the future’? Obviously, no one has asked me about my thoughts on the future. It’s quite easy to predict what is going to happen in the future. You decide what is going to happen, and then you personally have to make sure its going to get done. It’s that simple.
Anyway, the thing that I think is most relevant and no so far fetched, is the idea of abortion, and choosing and conditioning embryos. Technology is not too far away from allowing parents to choose the sex of their baby and what traits to pass on. This might be a while away, but I wouldn’t say its unreasonable.
Pretty much everything else is unreasonable. I don’t think we are ever going to condition everyone to think the same things and never rise in class systems. Especially in America, where we thrive on individuality and rising through the class systems. The most important people in our culture are the most ‘individual’ or ones who fought the hardest to find the ‘American Dream.’ We are too obsessed as a culture, and as people about being individuals. Now, we might not really all be individuals, but we like to think we are.
Also, as a culture, not just our nation, but I would say the rest of the world too, we feel that knowledge brings power. Brave New World, uses knowledge as power too, but it restricts knowledge for power. Now, we all want to learn as much as possible and want to know more than someone else to get ahead. We are too competitive to let others become in charge of us, and tell us what we are allowed to learn and not learn.
But I think the most ridiculous thing that wont happen is the loss of concept of parents. That was one of the most creeper concepts I thought. But I realty don’t think that will ever happen. It might become less personal, but I think the concept will always remain.
Anyway, the thing that I think is most relevant and no so far fetched, is the idea of abortion, and choosing and conditioning embryos. Technology is not too far away from allowing parents to choose the sex of their baby and what traits to pass on. This might be a while away, but I wouldn’t say its unreasonable.
Pretty much everything else is unreasonable. I don’t think we are ever going to condition everyone to think the same things and never rise in class systems. Especially in America, where we thrive on individuality and rising through the class systems. The most important people in our culture are the most ‘individual’ or ones who fought the hardest to find the ‘American Dream.’ We are too obsessed as a culture, and as people about being individuals. Now, we might not really all be individuals, but we like to think we are.
Also, as a culture, not just our nation, but I would say the rest of the world too, we feel that knowledge brings power. Brave New World, uses knowledge as power too, but it restricts knowledge for power. Now, we all want to learn as much as possible and want to know more than someone else to get ahead. We are too competitive to let others become in charge of us, and tell us what we are allowed to learn and not learn.
But I think the most ridiculous thing that wont happen is the loss of concept of parents. That was one of the most creeper concepts I thought. But I realty don’t think that will ever happen. It might become less personal, but I think the concept will always remain.
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