Friday, August 21, 2009
Which Civilization?
So from what we know about Brave New World, there are two main civilizations: the dystopian English society and the Savage Reservation. One found pain to be an unnecessary impediment and removed anything unpleasant from the society. The other embraced pain as a form of self purification and considered it an essential part of their culture. So which civilization are we most similar to? Humanity has a hunger for pleasure and self-gratification similar to that of the dystopia. But we also share in the thought that a certain amount of pain is required to achieve the better things in life (well at least that's what I think). I personally think we're right in the middle of the two, having a fairly equal balance of pain and pleasure. We are willing to pursue happiness to an extent, depending on the requirements; but we at least know when we've reached our limits (supposedly). I don't know. What do you guys think? Do we come across as more of a primitive and masochistic nation or a super-advanced but ignorant civilization?
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At this point in time, I think you're right. However, like Postman believes, I think we are headed in the direction of Huxley's prophecy. We try to make our lives as comfortable as possible. We constantly have commercials to tell us what we need to avoid any sort of struggles, and we agree. We are constantly trying to find ways to get out of the pain of life.
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