Artificial Happiness in Brave New World

David Sosa gives many ideas into why he believes happiness is not a state of mind. He states that an artificial experience is different than actually experiencing something. Referring to Aristotle’s

Lazy fall days, colorful leaves, cooler weather, birds singing, frogs croaking, crickets chirping, relaxing to the sounds of the outdoors. Waves of water crashing upon each other, fishing, telling stories around a campfire, making s’mores, memories with family and friends; this is what happiness is to me. Happiness is in the eye of the beholder, what brings happiness to one person may not bring happiness to another person. When I think of the word happiness, I think of descriptive words like Contentment, enjoyment, satisfaction, delightfulness, something that makes a person smile. I have always looked at the word happiness as a feeling, an action, never have I thought of happiness as an overall affect. However, it is a proven fact, that happiness can affect the over-all health and longevity of human life. Happy people live longer than those that are lonely, stressed, or depressed.

During the opening of the novel the World State's motto hangs over the human recreational center stating "COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY." However, as the novel deepens Huxley showcases how unjust this society is politically, that there is no such thing as an ‘identity’ just members under a kingdom, which shows the motto to be a facade formed by the D.H.C. The author uses detail to describe how the Directors of the Hatchery are the government by creating "humans" of their image to later brainwash them by stating "all conditioning aims at that making people like their inescapable social destiny." By conditioning their creations they have chosen everyone's jobs, destinies, levels of classification which they soon learn their roles of the community and are even tormented in experiments to hate objects in relations to other duties, this is to ensure that

The true meaning of happiness is different for everyone. For most people, it is feeling satisfied with every aspect of their life. The society of Brave New World does not know the true meaning of happiness because they have never had any form of true conflict show up their lives. When trouble comes up in their life, they avoid fixing it by taking soma. By taking soma, they base their happiness off a fake reality, therefore, it creates no true relief. Not having any form of conflict in their life creates a problem within itself because then they never get to experience true joy.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

"They'll grow up with what the psychologists used to call an 'instinctive' hatred of books and flowers. Reflexes unalterably conditioned. They'll be safe from books and botany all their lives." The Director turned to his nurses. "Take them away again."

According to the Dictionary, “happiness is the mental or emotional state of well being which can be defined by others. A pleasurable or satisfying experience.”. Of course that’s true, the feeling of happiness is what it’s scientifically defined as, but happiness is much more than that. Happiness could be a certain sound, a smell, even feeling a certain piece of clothing or a thick warm blanket. People spend hours even years trying to work for what they think is happiness. They work for hours to get large amounts of money, but they never find the happiness their looking for. That’s because happiness isn't materialistic, happiness isn't something you can buy with expensive items. Even though some people believe you can buy happiness, that’s

Brave New World, acknowledges government control which results in the failure of a society. It is a world created where everything is under control, being observed, and synthetic. The society was manufactured in a test tube therefore, it was factory made. The people were born and developed in the test tubes, so their human nature became adapted so an individual cannot identify or approach it. Every little detail of a person's life is prearranged. These people's lives revolve around their community, their existence, and security; never their individual happiness. They are basically living for their society as a whole. This society was designed to be successful but it failed to give people their individuality. The individuals sacrificed

Aldous Huxley creates a terrifying and heartbreaking scene with the arrival of a gaggle of newborns, a stark contrast against the banality and sterility of the labs the readers were experiencing just moments ago. Babies represent a softness and gentleness not found in the coldness of the characterless adults, their innocence a striking trait splashed against the bleakness of the nursery. The D.H.C. (The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning) orders the nurses to bring the babies out and present them with a bowl of roses and scintillating nursery books. As expected, the infants are naturally curious and crawl instinctively toward the colorful combination. As a "lesson," the D.H.C.

In The Happiness Hypothesis Jonathan Haidt talks about how our brains work and how best to find happiness with the different ways it works. Haidt describes the different ways a positive and negative person’s brain works and how each can find happiness through various and different methods. He also discusses different aspects of society that can affect our level of happiness. All of these things can be considered to find the best way to raise your level of happiness.

When Brave New World was written, mass production, popularized by Henry Ford, had begun to gain steam in the industrial world. Factories were now more efficient than ever, at the cost of any uniqueness with the item being produced when compared to someone making items by hand. The world of Brave New World runs a lot like that. Individuality is viewed as heavily shameful, and Bernard Marx is repeatedly reprimanded over the course of the book for trying to be an individual instead of part of society. For instance, he is described as “Pretty harmless, perhaps; but also pretty disquieting” (Huxley 76) for having a fascination with doing things alone on his own time, which is heavily discouraged. Instead, people are encouraged to spend as much time in public as possible, and find comfort and solace in being part of a group rather than being their own person. This message is seen in the motto of the World State, “Community. Identity. Stability” (Huxley 1). With the lack of individualism in Brave New World, there comes a large amount of efficiency. From the moment they are decanted, society in Brave New World tries to shape babies to what is needed. They are separated into castes so that everyone is happy and productive in their job. Henry Foster mentions that “We decant our babies as socialized humans beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future … Directors of Hatcheries.” (Huxley 10) Once they are born, the hypnopaedic conditioning determines everything about their lives in the future, from their likes and interests, to what friends they will have, and to what values and morals they believe in. They are conditioned to consume and purchase as much as possible to feed the economy and satisfy their own wants. Everything in the World State is designed to be as productive as possible, while minimizing discontent to make sure that society works as efficiently as it possibly

From the moment of birth, to the moment of death, humans are flooded with emotions both good and bad. Individuals are continuously seeking fulfillment, some failing to find it while others succeed. Many seek adoration; love, accomplishment and greatness. In literature, authors take the readers on journeys that allow imagination, granting the possibility for the reader to grasp inner desires and decide what is truly important in life. Literature allows readers to dive into a different world where happiness and fulfillment is plentiful and eternal, also described as a utopia, while other pieces of literature direct the reader into a world of dissatisfaction which is a dystopia. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is in 26th century England. With

Children are trained to behavior a certain way . In actuality children in today's society are raised to behave appropriately. Parents use different methods to achieve an ideal behavior from their child. Methods like Reinforcement and punishment have a huge influence on behavior, and have a huge impact on an individual's behavior. Huxley believes these methods are used by parents to train children. For

Some ideas cannot be learned while asleep and must be associated with feelings. The way the government in Brave New World manipulates feelings is through a process called classical conditioning. This process was first made famous by a man, which the book alludes to quite frequently, Ivan Pavlov. Classical conditioning is the process of associating a negative or positive feeling with a specific action. The more complex ideas can be taught to children using classical conditioning, which the Director explains as he gives students a tour of the Hatchery. After children of the Delta class are shown books and flowers, the Director initiates an electric shock and a series of sirens, explosions, and other unpleasant noises in order to make the children

Throughout the book, advancements in technology and science play a huge role in society. The World State created a way to use test tubes to grow and clone humans. In the beginning of the book, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C.) explains the beginning of how humans are grown: "The week's supply of ova. Kept… at blood heat; whereas the male gametes… they have to be kept at thirty-five instead of thirty-seven. Full blood heat sterilizes,” (Huxley 5). Science throughout the book is presented in such a precise way. The mere difference of two degrees is so crucial to the development of the embryo. The World State developed hypnopaedia, a sleep-conditioning technique used to convey information to someone asleep. The government has