ZakSmith

Conrad
ERWC,period5
3April2016
OurCrazyNewWorld
BraveNewWorld
,writtenbyAldousHuxley,isacrazybookaboutacrazyhypothetical
worldwherethegovernmentcontrolseveryaspectofsociety.Thegovernmentcontrolsbirth
rate,whatpeopledoforfun,whatpeopledoforwork,andevenhowpeoplethink,andtheydoit
inawaysothateveryoneiscontentwithhoweverythingisandsocietywillrunassmoothas
possible.Atfirstglancethissocietyseemslikeithasnothingincommonwithourpresentday
society,butwhenwelookcloselyatwhyandhowthissocietydoeswhatitdoeswestarttosee
somesimilarities.WhenHuxleyssocietyuseshypnopaediatobrainwashmoralsintopeople
doesthathaveanysimilaritytomoderndayadvertising?Orwhentheirgovernmentsupplies
drugstothemassestokeeppeoplehappycanwerelatethattothegrowinguseofprescription
drugsintherealworld.Eventhewaythatpeopleviewsextodaylooksalittlesimilartoway
Huxleyssocietyviewsrelationships.BeforewesaythatHuxleysmadeupsocietyiscrazy
comparedtotherealonemaybeweshouldtakeacloserlookattherealonefirst.
ThefirstsimilaritybetweentodayssocietyandHuxleyssocietyistheuseof
brainwashing.Nowbrainwashingmightnotseemlikesomethingthatisusedverymuchinthe
realworld,butitis.In
BraveNewWorld
theyusehypnopaedia,orsleepteaching,toteachkids
howtoactintheirsociety.Whilethechildrensleeptheywouldbelisteningtorepetitionsof
moralslikeEveryoneworksforeveryoneelse.Wecantdowithoutanyone.(Brave74)for

multiplehourseveryday.Whenthekidsgrowuptheyhaveamemoryfullofmoralsthatthey
neverrememberlearningandneverchosetolearn.Nowintherealworldwedontteachkids
likethis.Moralsaretaughtthroughfamilyorreligionandevenschoolingusesmoretraditional
waysofteachingchildren.HoweverHuxleyswayofteachingkidsthroughsubliminalmessages
isverysimilartothewaythecurrentdayadvertisementsgetpeopletobuythings.Whetheritbe
coolslogansorcatchyjingles,advertisementshavetheirownmethodsofengravinginformation
intothemindsofthepopulus.IfeverycommercialbreakMcDonald'splaystheirsloganIm
LovinItwillthekidsinfrontofthetveventuallylearntoloveit?Beforeyouthinkofhow
bizarre
BraveNewWorld
steachingmethodsareyoumightwanttocheckhowyourkidsknow
everymajorcorporationsslogan.
Thenextsimilaritybetweenthesetwosocietiesistheirdruguse.Unliketherealworld
thereisnoillegaldrugusein
BraveNewWorld
.Instead,thegovernmentdistributesasafe
legaldrugtoeveryonetokeepeveryonehappywiththeirlessthanfreestatus.Somaissupposed
tobetheperfectdrugwhereyoucouldtakeaholidayfromrealitywheneveryoulike,andcome
backwithoutsomuchasaheadacheoramythology(Brave54).Peopleinthebookwoulduse
somaasananswertoeveryproblemwhetheritbediscomfortorboredompeoplewoulduse
somatofixanything.Butitisneverreallyafix,justatemporarysolutionthatlastsaslongasthe
drugdoes.Thismassuseofdrugsdoesntreallysoundlikeoursocietybecausemostdrugsare
illegal,howevertheuseoflegaldrugshasgrowntremendouslyinthepastyearswiththeuseof
prescriptiondrugs.Whatresearchershavefoundisthattheprevalenceofprescriptiondruguse
increasedto59percentin2012,whiletheprevalenceofpolypharmacy(useoffiveormore
prescriptiondrugs)increasedto15percent.(Increase).Prescriptiondrugshavebecomeapart

ofoursocietyasaneasyfixtopeoplesproblemsmuchlikehowsomaisusedtokeeppeople
frombeingunhappyin
BraveNewWorld
.It'sonlyamatteroftimeuntileveryonesdoctoris
prescribingthemsomafortheirstrugglesthroughlife.
Thethirdandfinalsimilaritiybetweenthefictionalsocietyandtherealoneistheirview
onsexandrelationships.Thecitizensof
BraveNewWorld
haveasayingthatgoeseveryone
belongstoeveryoneelse(Brave39)whichtothemmeansthateveryonesbodiesaremeantto
besharedwithoneanotherandnobodybelongstojustoneperson.Itisstandardintheirsociety
tohavemultiplesexualpartnersatatimeanditiscompletelyunacceptableforthemtolovea
singlepersoninthewaythatpeopleintherealworlddonaturally.Whilethetwosocietiesdiffer
greatlyintheirviewsonsinglepartnerstheyaregrowingcloserandcloserwiththeirvalueson
havingmultiplesexualpartnerswithnotiestolove.OkCupid,apopularonlinedatingsite,
releasedsomestatisticsontheirusersopinionsonpromiscuity.Thewebsitefoundthatoverthe
last10yearsthepercentageofuserswhothinkthereisnosuchthingashavingtoomanysexual
partnersrosefrom30percentto48percentandthepercentageofuserswhowouldhavea
friendshipbasedonsexwithnointentionsofloverosefrom50percentto61percent.Whilethe
realworldmightbegettingclosertosharingitsviewswith
BraveNewWorld
onpromiscuitywe
stillhavealongwaytogobeforewegiveuptheintimateoneononerelationshipsthatisthe
normtoday.
Huxleymightvebeenwritingafictionbookwhenhewrote
BraveNewWorld
butit
mightbeusedtodayasawaytoprepareforthefuture.Whilehypnopaediaandadvertisinghave
completelydifferentusesyoustillhavetothinkofhowadvertisingisgrowingtobecomethat
voicethatsalwayswhisperinginthepopulationsear.Andwhileprescriptiondrugsarent

handedoutateverygivenopportunitypeoplecanalwaysjustasktheirdoctorsforalittlesoma
whentheirlivesgetrough.Andwhilepeoplewillcontinuetogetmarried,raisefamilies,and
loveeachotherwestillhavethosepeoplewhobelievetheirbodiesbelongtoeveryoneelse.
BraveNewWorld
isacrazybookwithcrazyidealsthatonlysharessimilaritieswiththereal
worldbecauseit'sjustascrazy.

WorksCited
Huxley,Aldous.
BraveNewWorld
.Brooklyn,NY:HarperPerennial,1946.Print.
Khazan,Olga."HowOKCupidUsers'ViewsofSexHaveChangedSince2005."
TheAtlantic
.N.p.,11Feb.2015.Web.12Apr.2016.
TheJAMANetworkJournals."IncreaseseeninprescriptiondruguseinUnitedStates."
ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,3November2015.