Discover the thoughts of one of the most visionary writers of all time.
In A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s prophetic book, tells of a dystopian world where human beings are divided by castes, reproduction occurs in mega-factories (not families), sports that don’t generate much consumption are forbidden, and monogamy is frowned upon.
Sound familiar?
The world is going crazy, and the loss of values today is constant. And Aldux Huxley saw this coming many years ago when he published his famous book in 1932.
Well, I think we should re-read Huxley’s book. I have done it, and I want to share with you 4 of his most disturbing sentences.
Let’s start.
1. On population control
“A gray, low, compact building, only thirty-four stories high. Above the main entrance, the words: London Central Incubation and Conditioning Center, and on a shield, the motto of the World State: Community, Identity, Stability.” — Aldous Huxley (Brave New World.)
Thus begins the famous novel. In this first paragraph, the hair stands on end. Incubation and conditioning center? That is to say, a place where reproduction is carried out in an artificial and industrialized way. And also, the brains of newborns are programmed through education in the first years of their lives.
This reminds me of the controversial video of EctoLife, where they propose a world where you can order the gestation of children on demand for couples with problems.
It also reminds me of this alarming headline about Russia, “Russia freezes sperm of soldiers mobilized in Ukraine.”
The world has problems with generational replacement due to wars and the aging of the population. And it is scary to think about these things, but the future Huxley proposes it may be closer than we think.
2. On Happiness
“The secret of happiness and virtue: to love what one has to do. All conditioning goes to this: make people love their inevitable social destiny.” — Aldous Huxley (Brave New World.)
This phrase reminds me of the first episode of the series Futurama, where Philip J. Fry, the main character, is trapped in a cryogenic machine and ends up in a distant future, where each person is assigned a job for which he is supposed to be genetically predetermined, in his case the same position, which he had: deliveryman. And he spends the whole chapter running away from his destiny.
Imagine a world where you can’t choose what you do for a living. Imagine something much more disturbing: a world where you don’t want to decide for yourself because you have been conditioned to do x job, and you experience more happiness following that path than your own.
This, in turn, brings to mind what Nassim Nicholas Taleb said about spaghetti and a monthly salary being the worst drugs he knew. Also, I remember that Carl Newport talks about how it is possible not to have passion for a job, but as you get good at it, you become passionate about it (a thought I share).
And therefore, I don’t see it as so far-fetched that we end up working in whatever is needed without being able to choose, especially with the rise of AIs and Robotics.
There are days when I think that working will be like military service, and we will end up doing maintenance tasks. Nicola Tesla said that the most challenging job in the future would be pushing buttons.
3. On polarization
“Suggestions transform the child’s mind. The sum of these suggestions is the child’s mind. And later, it is also the mind of the adult. The recommendations will accompany him all his life.”— Aldous Huxley (Brave New World.)
Have you ever wondered where your prejudices come from? Have you ever thought about where your likes and dislikes come from? Have you ever asked yourself if you are you or the sum of all the conditioning you have received throughout your life?
If you lived in the society described by Aldous in his book, the answer is clear: you would be the sum of the suggestions you have received throughout your life. You would be the sum of the recommendations of the global state.
But even if you don’t live in a science fiction book, you’ve probably figured out that you’re a fan of the x or g soccer team because your father was. You like a specific type of clothing because it’s a cultural convention you’ve been exposed to through advertising. So your ideas are often polarized to remain rooted and have a sense of belonging.
Well, that’s a conditioning, my friend.
4. On relationships
“The truth is that everybody belongs to everybody else.” — Aldous Huxley (Brave New World.)
In Brave New World, the past relationships are described as “Family, monogamy, romanticism, all exclusive, in all a concentration of interest, a close channeling of impulse and energy.”
And so it had to evolve towards a reality where everybody belongs to everybody (but nobody owns anything because the means of production belong to the state and urban and rural space).
This has a lot to do with the famous quote, “In 2030, you will have nothing, and you will be happy”.
Let me explain it to you.
We are heading towards a world where everything will be Netflixed and Uberized. Everything will have a flat rate: housing, cars, food, and even clothes.
And what seems like an innovation may be an involution.
Capitalism is founded on private property, and personal property is necessary to house independent and free families.
Destroy the concept of family and its values, and it will be easier for people to accept flat rates that allow them to change residences like the one who chooses a TV series but not to be owners of an acre of land. (Remember that the lettuce you eat does not come from the supermarket but from the garden: IT IS IN YOUR INTEREST TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IF YOU CHOOSE TO BE SO).
And in this way, we will all live as renters in a world that will not belong to us.
Or at least that is what my mind thinks after reading Aldous Huxley’s dystopian world and contrasting his predictions with current policies and the purchase of large tracts of land by the mega-rich of the not-so-happy world in which we live.
A virtual hug
AG
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