Mustapha Mond

“We are half ruined by conformity, but we should be wholly ruined without it”. The aforementioned quote by Charles Dudley Warner appears to parallel the views on conformity Aldous Huxley created in his novel “Brave New World”. Conformity, and with this, stability, in Huxley’s world is only possible with the excessive use of conditioning and the hyper-cloning of zygotes called “Bokanovsky’s Process”. Conditioning is not something created in “Brave New World”. Behaviorists like Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson performed conditioning experiments on dogs and even children (in respective order). However, Huxley created a society where “people’s” lives are predetermined even before conception. This stimulates the question: “Is mindless conformity ethical?”.

- Most of the children are physically abused as they are initially forced to change their appearance (i.e. the cutting of Amelia’s hair) and they are physically punished. - Some of the children are also sexually abused (i.e. the young girl, who later tries to run away and dies, is assaulted by a female teacher). - Some of the teachers are emotionally abused by the system as some were becoming overly influenced by the cruelty happening and others became attached to their students which led to an are uncertainty as to whether or not they should stand up for the children (do the right thing) or continue with the rules and practices of the

Everyone has met a person who inspires them by always making seemingly effortless decisions that make the world a better place. On the other hand, there will always be people who make poor choices that negatively impact others, without knowing they are hurting people. For example, in Fahrenheit 451 Captain Beatty appears to be mean-spirited, but has fundamental morals; on the other hand, Clarisse represents purity and happiness. Although they seem like polar opposites, they were both born capable of single handedly destroying or saving the world, just as everyone is. When children are still new to the earth, they haven't been exposed to the many beautiful, but also the heart-breaking aspects of the world. At this point of their life, they haven't been influenced by others and are able to think without other people's views filling up their minds (and not leaving space for original ideas). Humans are born as a completely blank slate that can be carved in a good or an evil way depending on the events and people who

Childhood is the most sensitive period of human development. A well-structured academic enabling environment allows children to flourish, learning 15-20 new words every week all while adapting to and learning specific motor functions of all sorts. The correct environment carries an extremely important role and promotes learning under the proper circumstances, however a poor learning environment with constant conflict and poor role models can actually inhibit or slow the growth of a child. By no means does the perfect learning scenario exist, but psychologist can often identify a scenario where parents and/or guardians foster a variety of developmental issues from a psychological, physical, and mental perspective. The authoritative figure's unique and condescending style of teaching the girl in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, directly leads to harsh social and developmental consequences short term, with diminished long term social and developmental effects including troubled relationships, attachment issues, and a poor understanding of basic social scenarios.

For example, my very intelligent child had been labeled as a “trouble maker” at a young age. He could not sit still in Kindergarten and focus on lessons. He had not yet developed these skills that were expected of him. Children are designed for movement and play. In a formal school setting, these natural impulses are stifled and pushed aside to obtain high test scores. The school system is designed to create a model student conformed to produce model citizens.

Individuals go through many experiences in life, and through their experiences they learn about the world, and how to react to the way it treats them within a society. A society has many expectations that mold people 's attitudes and moods. Throughout life, people are constantly changing themselves to fit into the society and once people fulfill its requirement to meet its expectations they can fit into the world, because the world is built on society’s expectations. The society can make people distant from themselves, when they are busy, and are always being pressured to complete a certain task on time. The society can impact people 's decisions by alternating their ways of treating them. They can be strict, and force people to put their ego aside, while in other situations they want the the people to only think about themselves, and what they want, and how they should value themselves more often, Especially children, who at a young age are trying to find their place in society. In “An army of one” by Jean Twenge, many children are surrounded by coloring books, and other activities that support their self-esteem, hoping to build a concrete understanding of the importance of self. In “Project Classroom Makeover” by Cathy Davidson, students are surrounded by rules, and regulation, that always lead to standardization, and a way for students to forget about themselves, but Davidson wants to change that with technology and restore the students’ self-esteems. The ability for an

Conditioning and hypnopaedic lessons, being one of the very important controls, are procedures that all babies are required to be put through in their premature years. The conditioning of minds allows the government to impress its ideas upon the maturing children. It causes them to love their own caste and acknowledge the presence of other castes. Tomakin, the Director of the Hatchery Centre, explains, “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 (Huxley 30).” The process includes the electrifying of babies and the alarming sound of a bell as they approach the books and the flowers. This causes them to be conditioned to hate books and flowers. Being able to read, become intelligent, admire the beauty of nature, or vice versa should not be the choice of the state. Conditioning limits the citizens from experiencing the enjoyment of sports, hobbies, entertainment, and talents. With the restriction of true exposure to open interests and activities, the citizens are experiencing simulated happiness.

How a physical process develops and how organs adjust to outside influences is determined by a child’s biology. For example, gender can affect development in various ways. Whether a child is a boy or girl can affect how they develop and learn. Research shows that boys have lower levels of school readiness than girls because boys tend to learn and develop differently from girls. Another determining factor on how gender affects development include stereotyping or abuse within the family. If those two factors are present, the experiences of a child could vary. Philosophers Piaget and Vygotsky discuss the importance of a developing child’s experience in their cognitive growth. For example, a girl born into a family that believes a woman’s only role is to be a housewife and raise children, may not be given the

In Life-Span Development the class had the ability to observe the infant, Riley, and her parents, Erin and Robin. The class had the ability to discover to talk to real parents and ask the questions that most students are too shy to ask. The class was also able to observe how Riley acted in front of forty people. This experienced allowed people to understand the true development of infant whether it be cognitive, physical or social

Nature versus nurture, is the question. Are we really born as the person we always will be, or does external influences have a crucial effect on who we will become. In the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals the protagonists Baby is seen to have an absence of an adequate caregiver or prominent parental figure in her life. Her mother passed away when she was very young with only her teenage father to care for her. Jules her father, shows little interest in his child. Constantly leaving her to fend for herself and issuing verbal and physical abuse. This causes the young adolescent girl to experience great hardship as she tried to get on with life, without proper role model and guidance. The adverse character development of Baby throughout the novel supports the theme of the necessity of a proper role model in the upbringing of a child. Without the proper guidance a child will begin to take impression to her environment. No matter who they were destined to be, they will always become products of their own surroundings. Her impression of her corrupt environment causes her many problems in her life such as her inability to form and maintain healthy romantic relationships, to gain a reputable and appropriate career for her aptitude, and her desire not to pursue a higher level of education.

In Huxley’s Brave New World, the education system is used to control the population and make people do what they are supposed to do from the beginning. “People believe in God because they are conditioned to believe in God.” (Huxley) They know this, so they condition people in to believe their caste system is great. They create caste systems from when they are born and treat everyone from the same caste the same, education wise and in conditioning. Each caste has a completely different educational system because they are completely different. This makes it so you learn what you need to know and nothing else. You won’t want to learn anymore, and you wouldn’t explore options since they put you where you need to be from the start.

In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley uses tone to develop characters in the novel while simultaneously showing that every character is cast out at some point in their lives. This utopian future setting is developed throughout the whole first half of the novel.The entire culture is different, children are genetically bred and conditioned in so called Hatcheries. “ “Stability,” said the controller, “Stability. No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability” (page 42) Each person supports a specific role in society, and if they break that role they are exiled. Readers get the chance to meet a few characters who question why they were even decanted or in John's case, Born.

Horney, like Adler, believed that childhood environment is a major determinant of human behavior. Horney believed that the environment of childhood played a key role in personality development. She felt strongly that negative experiences in early childhood could trigger anxiety in adulthood. She suggests that one who grew up in an environment often characterized by neglect, brutality, or hypercritical behavior would become an aggressive child. One who grew up in an early environment characterized by cramping influences that were so subtle or powerful that rebellion doesn't work would become a detached child. The detached child finally just withdraws.

3. Very young children need order for their development. This order need not be only with things in the environment but also with values, functions and other human activities. The child needs to see human values like ‘Say the Truth’ being practiced. But the adults do not practice in the everyday life. The child gets confused and this can create a warp in his development. Similarly any object in the environment being used for a purpose other than it is meant for creates disturbance. (e.g. the other end of a teaspoon used as a screwdriver).Contrary instructions about behaviour muddle his decisions how some action is allowed at some other time (for example. when a visitor is

In my classroom, although the students will vary from ages 5 to 13, I would like to set an example for the students to follow. At that age, children establish who they are and what they believe in terms to what they are taught and how they are taught according to Freudian philosophy as well as my own. Teachers play a major role in a child’s life for the simple fact that the teachers probably spend more time with the child than the parent(s) especially in today’s society of economic demands.