In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a world that is controlled by pleasure. The people of this society were flooded with positive emotions and felt there was no need to question their government. But by not questioning the government or their way of life, aren't they just giving into a sense of ignorance?
In Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman clearly states that "America has given the world the clearest available glimpse of the Huxelyan future" (156). In today's society, many people seem to choose ignorance over intelligence by either preoccupying themselves with trivial information or living in a world of their own with the assistance of drugs much like the people in Brave New World did when they attended feelies or took soma. When a person chooses to expand their knowledge of their world, their motives are questioned and they are seen as outcasts, most like Bernard Marx or John "the Savage". Is our society falling into a trivial and ignorant state much like Huxley predicted? And if so, is there anyway to stop it?
It's frightening to realize that the world we are reading about is coming to a reality. There are people whom suffered a great deal and will do anything to reach a happy state, even reaching ignorance. Why must we know what will only trouble us? I even choose it sometimes myself. However, Huxley once explained how in struggle there's much more of a happiness than the Civilized world's almost infinite pleasure. I believe happiness and pleasure are completely different. Happiness is gained through struggle, almost like glory. Pleasure has a sense of a temporary quality, easy and short. People have become very confused with these two, choosing the pleasure rather than the happiness.
ReplyDeleteSociety is usually corrupt and those whom see it, know a way to fix it. WE ARE STILL given a freedom to research and work our way to what each of us believe is right. Educating people is the way to go!
It is undeniable that we would prefer to live a life similar to that of Brave New World's since consistent happiness gives us much pleasure. Some may argue that there is absolutely nothing wrong if our world transforms into Aldous Huxley's "utopian" visions. I, however, believe that people should not completely succumb to a life of continuous enjoyment through substance abuse. Our society is definitely on its way to a state wherein most people favor to momentarily forget their problems rather than simply dealing with it and permanently relieving themselves of complications. As Bianca's comment above stated, the only possible way that I see to prevent this issue from escalating is to educate people. Unless people know what they are doing wrong, they won't stop doing it.
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