“In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us,” (Neil Postman).
Today’s society is flooded with advanced technology capable of the most groundbreaking science, from stem cells to finding cures for such diseases as Alzheimer’s. However, this technology is not only in the medical sciences; it extends to entertainment purposes as well, like videogames, iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, and more. Many would consider these examples of things that pleasure us, of things we find convenient and fun. But how far will this go? It is by this question that Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future in his book Brave New World is relevant to today.
Huxley believes that it is people who will bring about their own demise through ideologies of practicality and emotional satisfaction. An example in Brave New World that is controversial to modern science now is the idea of cloning. While today it is illegal to clone human beings, in Huxley’s vision of the future scientists can clone up to 96 identical twins at a time. While this may seem morally absurd, is it not also questionable the idea that today we can choose specific traits of our children, like gender and eye and hair color? Other similarities between today and Huxley’s Brave New World can be found between videogames and orgy porgies and feelies, along with ideas in drugs such as one known as, Inderal, which focuses on trying to alter one’s long term memories and the soma escape from reality. As described in Brave New World, orgy porgies and feelies are emotional and sexual outlets that those in this society can turn to for such release. There are videogames very much like this, such as the Grand Theft Auto series. Gamers are free to play their character as a reckless murderer, and they can even hire prostitutes. This is the very opposite of George Orwell’s 1984.
Neil Postman, a social critic, argues that Orwell’s vision of the future is not as relevant to today as Huxley’s. I agree with Postman because of the way that society is shifting. Society’s politics are shifting to the left, toward a more liberal and democratic view, distancing itself from the conservative right side of the spectrum. In 1984, the opposite happens; there is total oppression in the form of the tyrant Big Brother. Today’s break from past tradition has led to some radical changes, like contemporary artists’ ideas of Piss Christ and chocolate Virgin Marys being art. This break from past moral restrictions can be viewed as leaning toward Huxley’s virtually amoral World State society in Brave New World.
2 comments:
I also agree with Postman. In General our society has lost many of it strong moral values. The young people of today are ahving their minds flooded with junk brought on by the media. What clothes to wear, how to look, what new games and toys to buy, the places you should go to, and the list goes on. We are a media controlled society that is most like that of Brave New World.
While I do agree with some of your assertions, like the ones pertaining to technology and the ability to cure almost any disease, I feel the need to point out that our society still has yet to reach the sexual level expressed in Huxley’s BNW. American’s still see public displays of affection as unconventional and it is frowned upon. While some may say that American’s as a whole have lost their morals, I believe that as a mass, American’s still find PDA morally wrong and unsettling, believing that it will corrupt younger generations. Also, just because there is a shift from the right to the left does not mean that cloning and gene modification are going to run ramped, demoralizing the world.
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