I think in the near future the world will change drastically but not in the way Aldous Huxley predicted. Even though it is a novel, I still feel like he was trying to predict a possible future for society. When he wrote the novel, Henry Ford had created the assembly line a couple of decades ago. This new method may have seemed to Huxley like it would develop into a way of making humans more efficiently. He probably thought this efficiency would change the morals of society. The unorthodox way of making humans would be accepted. This would result in other unethical ways of improving life for humanity. He may have been right about the unethical ways of keeping consumers happy with mass production. For example, the way corporations operate to make the consumers and the owner happy at any cost. However, the world developed even more than he anticipated. The efficiency of the assembly line boosted commerce and the population grew more and more. There was no need for the mass production of humans because the world rapidly became overpopulated. Technology has advanced so much with the invention of the computer. The masses in most countries have a way to learn anything by surfing the internet. People cannot be hidden from the truth to enjoy pleasure instead because it is everywhere. My prediction is that the world will not be headed in a good direction but not in Huxley's way. I think the world will eventually run out of resources and it will be pretty uncivil after that. The huge populations will struggle for what they need when the time comes. However, no one really knows the future, and the world is constantly changing so the future may be bright. The world has changed so much since Aldous Huxley's time and I would like to see how he would predict the future if he was born in this era. So do you still think Aldous Huxley's world is a possibility? Why or why not? If not, how do you think the world will be in the future?
Friday, August 10, 2012
Predictions about the future
I think in the near future the world will change drastically but not in the way Aldous Huxley predicted. Even though it is a novel, I still feel like he was trying to predict a possible future for society. When he wrote the novel, Henry Ford had created the assembly line a couple of decades ago. This new method may have seemed to Huxley like it would develop into a way of making humans more efficiently. He probably thought this efficiency would change the morals of society. The unorthodox way of making humans would be accepted. This would result in other unethical ways of improving life for humanity. He may have been right about the unethical ways of keeping consumers happy with mass production. For example, the way corporations operate to make the consumers and the owner happy at any cost. However, the world developed even more than he anticipated. The efficiency of the assembly line boosted commerce and the population grew more and more. There was no need for the mass production of humans because the world rapidly became overpopulated. Technology has advanced so much with the invention of the computer. The masses in most countries have a way to learn anything by surfing the internet. People cannot be hidden from the truth to enjoy pleasure instead because it is everywhere. My prediction is that the world will not be headed in a good direction but not in Huxley's way. I think the world will eventually run out of resources and it will be pretty uncivil after that. The huge populations will struggle for what they need when the time comes. However, no one really knows the future, and the world is constantly changing so the future may be bright. The world has changed so much since Aldous Huxley's time and I would like to see how he would predict the future if he was born in this era. So do you still think Aldous Huxley's world is a possibility? Why or why not? If not, how do you think the world will be in the future?
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I don't think that Aldous Huxley's world is a possibility, but more like an unlikely option. I believe our world will have more of a bright future because as our society evolves, so do others. We will not run out of resources as you say because the countries that consume natural resources like air now, will someday, progress to what our society today. I think our world will keep progressing untill there's no more progression to be made. But of course, as you said, no one knows the future. Maybe humanities future isn't as optimistic as I make it out to be.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that our world is becoming increasingly difficult to live in and our consumption of its raw materials and fertile soil is putting a strain on their resources. In the past, when conflicts arises, a solution is created. After World War II, the Earth's population exploded, and the food supply was beginning to become exhausted. The food supply could not keep up with the huge number of people inhabiting the planet, so a solution was needed. This lead to the Green Revolution in which modern day science revamped the agricultural method to make it produce crops more efficiently and in high yields.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Huxley's world seem so far fetched from the society we have today, there's no way of knowing if this is possible in the future. The future generation might not care about freedom of choice as much as we do. Maybe it is because we are a generation that puts so much emphasis on periods of time where people fought and died for such a cause that we value our freedom so much. If we fail to show the importance of liberty to future generations, perhaps Huxley's fictional world will become a reality.
I do not think Huxley's world could be somewhat possible. Huxley's vision of the future sounds somewhat plausible but also sounds unlikely. I do think that there could be a new god and if there was ever a new god I wouldn't think it would be Henry Ford, I think it would be a person who has had a major impact on technology like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Children probably won't be made in assembly lines unless something goes wrong with our reproductive organs. Drugs similar to soma do sound plausible and I feel like it could actually exist in the near future. In short Huxley's world could happen in some different form but it's highly unlikely. If it were to happen then I'm glad I won't be alive to see it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Huxley's predictions may be partially correct. The Huxleyan society is based around two major factors: technology and social structure. Part of the reason why the Huxleyan society seems so futuristic is becuase of their technology. They have all of these new machines and devices that have mostly worked to better the society. This is similar to our society, we are moving in the same direction towards advanced technology. This obviously apparent as we become increasingly dependent on technology.
ReplyDeleteThere is one aspect of our society that separates us from Huxley's viesion, and that lies within the will of the people. People of our society would never allow for the social changes that occured in Huxley's society to happen in our society. While the Huxleyan society promotes social stratification, we promote equality.
So, although we are making similar technological advances in our society, we still maintain our modest social structures.