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A Brave New World was a very interesting book and definitely made me think a lot about the future, as did all of the books we read this semester. I think it's important to take a look at our society and where it is heading. It's also important to look at our culture and examine the problems. For our final group project my group chose the topic of "somatization" of contemporary society. We as Americans have a pill for almost any problem you could possibly think of. In our group we discussed the effects of using drugs and alcohol to cushion any discomfort we may feel instead of dealing directly with our problems.

A Brave New World Part II

In class Thursday we discussed the second portion of the book. One question we talked about was "Is it better to have true knowledge of the way of the 'world' around you works, or is it better to remain ignorant?" If I was living in their society and had the choice I would want to be aware of what was really going on instead of being oblivious. Even if people wouldn't like the truth, they should still have the right to know. The people in the book have no choice and are completely ignorant of what they do to people. Keeping people ignorant allows them to control everyone without any objection. Sometimes it's true that what people know won't hurt them, but in this case they are completely taking away everyone's freedom.

A Brave New World

Although the beginning of A Brave New World is very interesting, I had a hard time getting into it at first. It's hard to picture a society that is so completely controlled that they genetically engineer humans to be exactly what they want them to be. Their society does not really reflect their motto: Community, Identity, Stability. Although they may have a sense of community within their caste, humanity as a whole is very divided. Everything about their identity is decided for them; their caste, the things they like and the job they will do. Yes, everyone may "know their place" in society, but if you don't allow people to choose these things on their own, there is no true sense of personal identity.Their society is stable only because everything is so carefully controlled. I would never want to live in a world like this. People are happy only because they don't know any better. They never have any opportunity to experience life's full potential.