Brave New World The Advancement Of Science

Brave New World: The Advancement Of Science Essay, Research Paper

Brave New World: The Advancement of Science

Christy Campbell Mrs. Doig Eng OAC 2 16 May, 1996

When thinking of progress, most people think of advances in the

scientific fields, believing that most discoveries and technologies are

beneficial to society. Are these advances as beneficial as most people think.

In the novel Brave New World, the author Aldous Huxley, warns readers that

scientific advances can be a threat to society. This is particularly evident in

the fields of biology, technology and psychology. According to Huxley, “The

theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such; it is the

advancement of science as it affects human individuals”(Huxley CLC 79 290).

One scientific advance of which Huxley warns readers of is that in

biology. In the setting of Brave New World, henceforth referred to as the

reservation, the mass production of humans is accomplished with the Bokanovsky

process. In this process, human beings are genetically engineered in

laboratories. “… a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide.

From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed

embryo, and every embryo into a full sized adult”(Huxley Brave New World 4).

One of the threats of this genetic breeding is that no family structures exist

on the reservation. Instead, humans are raised in conditioning centres. R.T.

Oerton points out that “Present knowledge indicates, for instance, that a child

cannot be deprived of parents or parent figures, as were the children in Brave

New World, without suffering lasting pathological damage to his

personality.”(Oerton CLC 7 308). Another threat that the Bokanovsky process

poses to society is that life is not highly valued. “Murder kills only the

individual and, after all what is an individual. With a sweeping gesture he [Mr.

Foster, director of hatcheries and conditioning] indicated the rows of

microscopes, the test-tubes, the incubators. We can make a new one with the

greatest ease-as many as we like”(Huxley Brave New World 133). Human life holds

no value because it can be easily replaced through the Bokanovsky process.

Furthermore, Bokanovsky’s method of mass production prevents individuality, as

on the reservation, all people are cloned. Starting from the time of decanting,

each embryo is genetically cloned to fall into one of the various social classes.

Within each social class, all members are cloned to be intellectually and

physically equivalent. Biological technology helps to achieve this equality by

genetically shaping the minds of society. In Brave New World , one’s

intelligence depends on the amount of alcohol injected into their embryo. For

example, one of the lower classes in society, Epsilons, have quite a high amount

of alcohol injected in the decanting process. Mental faculty, therefore, is

predestined from the moment of cloning. By creating a world where humans are

mass produced, Brave New World demonstrates that advances in biology can be

dangerous if used without regard for the well being of the human race.

According to Huxley, advances in technology can also be a threat to society.

In Brave New World, everything is completely mechanized, eliminating the need

for creativity and imagination. Huxley warns us against mechanization, arguing

“the machine dehumanizes men by demanding mechanical efficiency of

them”(Hillegas 114). Man’s creativity is replaced with mundane tasks, because

machines are able to do much of the work . The occupations available for people

on the reservation, consist of repetitive mechanical operations. In Brave New

World, leisure activities are dominated by technology. The primary source of

entertainment is the “feelies,” a type of movie theatre in which all the senses

are artificially created. Instead of feeling the emotions portrayed on screen,

the audience absorbs stimulated sensations. These stimulations prevent them

from free thought, which threatens society by denying people from experiencing

their own creativity and imagination. Furthermore, technology affects

entertainment by being incorporated into all games of play. Games consist of

advanced technological apparatus, and low organization, creating very

superficial entertainment. According to Huxley, this frustrates one of

humanity’s vital needs to be creative. “Men no longer amuse themselves

creatively but sit passively amused by mechanical devices”(Hillegas 115). Among

technological advances, one danger Huxley warns of is the advance in

pharmacology. In Brave New World, an artificial form of happiness is present in

a drug called soma. Soma propels the user into a hallucinatory dream world,

providing relief from negativity, allowing constant happiness People are

rewarded for work by receiving rations of soma. The soma ration varies