Brave New World
Seminar Prewrite:
What is the overall message of BNW?
The overall message of BNW is the benefits and detriments of social control and what “happiness” is in this book. My definition of happiness is that you are doing something that makes you feel like you have butterflies in your stomach, happiness is just like what you feel when you are truly excited to do something. Happiness is where you go to bed early and then get up early the next morning to get ready, that is true happiness for me. There are many other sub-messages in this book. Such as certain references to history as a bad thing and certain racist remarks. Like calling Indian people savages.
In what ways has BNW made you think about the concept of happiness?
This book has made me think about the concept of happiness by not allowing true happiness. By taking that attribute away, you are pretty much taking away peoples human feature. BNW made me think about the concept of happiness by showing what it would be like if you weren’t allowed like certain things. I would not be able to live in this society because of the regulations and the controlled caste system and the thought of social predestination. I could not live in a world without true happiness.
What does John mean by saying nothing in civilization costs enough (page 239)?
John is saying that the price paid for civilization control is already large, but the price paid for happiness is infinite, and by taking away true happiness they are eliminating the burning desire to consume and be truly happy. Soma is basically and alcohol pill to subdue horror and the want to expand your knowledge, soma makes you less human and more a part of the society in BNW.
How much of our society do you think is focused on comfort and how much do you think is focused on the truth and beauty? Give overall percentages and explain why.
I think that about 85% of our society is focused on comfort and the other 15% is focused on truth and beauty. This is because most of the people in our society are wealth and don’t care why. My personal experience with this is when I complain about something that I am very privileged to have. Most of our society is too busy wondering why they don’t have something that they don’t need rather than wondering why they should need that thing. They don’t care about the truth, they only care about something that will make their live easier. This ties back to consumerism. The more you consume things of which you don’t need, the farther away you get from truth and beauty.
What is the overall message of BNW?
The overall message of BNW is the benefits and detriments of social control and what “happiness” is in this book. My definition of happiness is that you are doing something that makes you feel like you have butterflies in your stomach, happiness is just like what you feel when you are truly excited to do something. Happiness is where you go to bed early and then get up early the next morning to get ready, that is true happiness for me. There are many other sub-messages in this book. Such as certain references to history as a bad thing and certain racist remarks. Like calling Indian people savages.
In what ways has BNW made you think about the concept of happiness?
This book has made me think about the concept of happiness by not allowing true happiness. By taking that attribute away, you are pretty much taking away peoples human feature. BNW made me think about the concept of happiness by showing what it would be like if you weren’t allowed like certain things. I would not be able to live in this society because of the regulations and the controlled caste system and the thought of social predestination. I could not live in a world without true happiness.
What does John mean by saying nothing in civilization costs enough (page 239)?
John is saying that the price paid for civilization control is already large, but the price paid for happiness is infinite, and by taking away true happiness they are eliminating the burning desire to consume and be truly happy. Soma is basically and alcohol pill to subdue horror and the want to expand your knowledge, soma makes you less human and more a part of the society in BNW.
How much of our society do you think is focused on comfort and how much do you think is focused on the truth and beauty? Give overall percentages and explain why.
I think that about 85% of our society is focused on comfort and the other 15% is focused on truth and beauty. This is because most of the people in our society are wealth and don’t care why. My personal experience with this is when I complain about something that I am very privileged to have. Most of our society is too busy wondering why they don’t have something that they don’t need rather than wondering why they should need that thing. They don’t care about the truth, they only care about something that will make their live easier. This ties back to consumerism. The more you consume things of which you don’t need, the farther away you get from truth and beauty.
Seminar Reflection:
Reaction:
This comment was not first brought forward in my seminar group but Zach said that all the most important jobs in our society are the jobs that pay the least such as teachers for our youth’s education, and garbage men for keeping our streets and city clean. I fully support this statement and think that it is completely true. The most important jobs in our country, the jobs no one wants to do, are the jobs that make the least amount of money.
Self-evaluation:
I feel that I did well in the seminar with some of my connections and ideas that I brought forward. I made personal connections to the ideas brought forward by me and my peers in the seminar group. I feel that I have grown in my ability to bring more new ideas into the seminar and talking more, something that I struggled with in the last seminar. In the last seminar I had struggled with reading the book and that made it hard for me to bring ideas from the book into the seminar. This time I found it easier to read and comprehend the book and it made it much easier to bring in ideas and quotes from the book to the seminar.
Key Take-away:
I will take away the skill of discussion and connection from the seminar, from the book I will take away the idea that in a perfect society happiness is non-existent and instant gratification is not what you want. I learned that Huxley was a very smart man and he predicted a lot of things that happened in the past, such as the great consumerists country that is the U.S. One key take-away from the seminar is all the things people brought forward like their personal experiences with happiness and unhappiness.
Reaction:
This comment was not first brought forward in my seminar group but Zach said that all the most important jobs in our society are the jobs that pay the least such as teachers for our youth’s education, and garbage men for keeping our streets and city clean. I fully support this statement and think that it is completely true. The most important jobs in our country, the jobs no one wants to do, are the jobs that make the least amount of money.
Self-evaluation:
I feel that I did well in the seminar with some of my connections and ideas that I brought forward. I made personal connections to the ideas brought forward by me and my peers in the seminar group. I feel that I have grown in my ability to bring more new ideas into the seminar and talking more, something that I struggled with in the last seminar. In the last seminar I had struggled with reading the book and that made it hard for me to bring ideas from the book into the seminar. This time I found it easier to read and comprehend the book and it made it much easier to bring in ideas and quotes from the book to the seminar.
Key Take-away:
I will take away the skill of discussion and connection from the seminar, from the book I will take away the idea that in a perfect society happiness is non-existent and instant gratification is not what you want. I learned that Huxley was a very smart man and he predicted a lot of things that happened in the past, such as the great consumerists country that is the U.S. One key take-away from the seminar is all the things people brought forward like their personal experiences with happiness and unhappiness.