Ted Talk Brave New World
Jean Jacques Rousseau once said that every man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains. He pointed out that the line between freedom and slavery is a fine one, and how easy it sometimes blends into one. Are we really free, or have we been so conditioned into believing that we are that we have lost the meaning of freedom? Maybe we have inevitably enslaved ourselves, perhaps by the technology we use, or the lives we lead or even by the people around us. For instance, we all have the same goals in life do we not? To finish our education, get a job, earn an income, get married, have a family, grow old in retirement? Have we all just fallen into the same mould as everyone else, and more importantly is there any other …show more content…
In the novel it is believed that stability within the society is only achieved when the people are happy. Hence in order to keep stability, everyone must be happy all the time. Mustapha Mond talks about the past world, saying that Their world didn’t allow them to take things easily, didn’t allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy. And in feeling strongly, how could they be stable? This points out the connection that if the people are able to feel strongly about other things, this can cause them to lose their happiness, which in turn leads to instability among the community. Yes, in theory, if everyone is happy with their life, then there is no need for change in the society. But, if one was to take out all the vast range of human emotions until they are left with only one, this essentially takes away what makes up our humanity. And in doing this, it takes away the value of true happiness. And we are left in a constant state of simple …show more content…
Mond addresses to the fact that universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning, beauty and truth cannot as well as the belief that great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. These two ideas show that the sacrifice made for happiness is ignorance. The society is conditioned into believing an alternative truth rather than historical or factual truth, in order to maintain this constant state of happiness. It states that truth cannot keep the wheel turning, perhaps because if people knew the truth, then there would be room for debate due to conflicting opinions and interpretation. Hence the easiest way to suppress the people is to hide the truth and replace it with the state's own ideas of how a society should be run. This concluded that happiness is only acceptable in ignorance.
In summary, Brave New world depicts a meretricious society were on the surface everything is perfect and everyone is happy, but dig deeper, and we see the ugly truth of a conditioned society and a destruction of humanity. If we allow ourselves to fall into a happiness driven society, where we exploit technology and use it to replace basic human interactions and emotion, we are essentially depriving ourselves of growth and learning. We must stop and acknowledge where our current society is growing, and if we need to take a step back and recognise what we need to
Jean Jacques Rousseau once said that every man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains. He pointed out that the line between freedom and slavery is a fine one, and how easy it sometimes blends into one. Are we really free, or have we been so conditioned into believing that we are that we have lost the meaning of freedom? Maybe we have inevitably enslaved ourselves, perhaps by the technology we use, or the lives we lead or even by the people around us. For instance, we all have the same goals in life do we not? To finish our education, get a job, earn an income, get married, have a family, grow old in retirement? Have we all just fallen into the same mould as everyone else, and more importantly is there any other …show more content…
In the novel it is believed that stability within the society is only achieved when the people are happy. Hence in order to keep stability, everyone must be happy all the time. Mustapha Mond talks about the past world, saying that Their world didn’t allow them to take things easily, didn’t allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy. And in feeling strongly, how could they be stable? This points out the connection that if the people are able to feel strongly about other things, this can cause them to lose their happiness, which in turn leads to instability among the community. Yes, in theory, if everyone is happy with their life, then there is no need for change in the society. But, if one was to take out all the vast range of human emotions until they are left with only one, this essentially takes away what makes up our humanity. And in doing this, it takes away the value of true happiness. And we are left in a constant state of simple …show more content…
Mond addresses to the fact that universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning, beauty and truth cannot as well as the belief that great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. These two ideas show that the sacrifice made for happiness is ignorance. The society is conditioned into believing an alternative truth rather than historical or factual truth, in order to maintain this constant state of happiness. It states that truth cannot keep the wheel turning, perhaps because if people knew the truth, then there would be room for debate due to conflicting opinions and interpretation. Hence the easiest way to suppress the people is to hide the truth and replace it with the state's own ideas of how a society should be run. This concluded that happiness is only acceptable in ignorance.
In summary, Brave New world depicts a meretricious society were on the surface everything is perfect and everyone is happy, but dig deeper, and we see the ugly truth of a conditioned society and a destruction of humanity. If we allow ourselves to fall into a happiness driven society, where we exploit technology and use it to replace basic human interactions and emotion, we are essentially depriving ourselves of growth and learning. We must stop and acknowledge where our current society is growing, and if we need to take a step back and recognise what we need to