Noah Baker Townsend Senior English Period 6 17 May 2024 Human Engineering: Cure or Killer Human history shows a pattern of innovation, humans are and always have been problem solvers. Something hard to move? They built the wheels. Something hard to break? They built the tools. Every problem has a solution and humanity will find the solution. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World tells of a society where people saw the uncertainty of conception and birth as a problem. The World State in Brave New World solved this issue, they industrialized the reproductive process where they could grow the most effective members of society in bulk and decide their position in the caste system before they are even born. “‘The lower the caste,’ said Mr. Foster, ‘the …show more content…
The quality of life for these people would increase exponentially and they would have many more opportunities that they were fated to struggle to reach. Human genetic engineering can improve the quality of life of so many people, from start to finish. This technology is constantly being innovated and improved, and it will continue to better the lives of people on Earth. The rapid advancement of human genetic engineering may be intimidating and confusing, but the potential to improve the lives of many people makes it worth exploring. HGE has already advanced in ways that people in the 1900’s would have called witchcraft, and this field will continue to advance! People will get on board and appreciate the good this technology can do as they observe it. Genetic engineering in humans will hopefully not get to the point where there is “a special mechanism” that keeps their containers in constant rotation. ‘To improve their sense of balance’” (Huxley 17), but as more problems arise humanity will solve them as they always have. Works Cited for Gert, Bernard. The "Genetic Engineering of Humans Is Largely
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a science fiction book that captures both the good and bad sides of cloning and mass production of humans through science. Huxley’s book, published in 1932, conveys his well-developed and disturbingly accurate ideas about human behavior in what was then the distant future. In addition, his writing measures the capacity for which humans can obsess over not only having a perfect society, but also having total control over everyone and everything in a world where nothing is wild and untamed. Individualism is seen as a cause of instability, and society in its entirety is broken down into five castes. For the people of the “World State”, life is based on immediate pleasure and constant happiness; sex and the use of the drug soma are a major part of every person’s life.
A problem that could arise is a repeat of history. Inequality. Our society would be divided into two groups, the “valids” or “perfect humans” and the “in-valids” or “non perfect humans.” This is just another form of discrimination, whereby people are judged because of the circumstances of they were born, something that they have no control over. "I belong to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the colour of your skin. We now have discrimination down to a science." -Vincent. In the film “in-valids were granted less rights than the “valids.” Sounds familiar? In the 1960’s many protests occurred because of the inequality and brutality against African-Americans, who had their rights taken away from them based on the colour of their skin. Introducing the practice of genetically modifying humans to live up to the ideology of perfection could cause protests, violence, chaos and possibly a repeat of the Civil Rights Movement. For many years our society has been attempting to eliminate inequality, but this practice could just as easily re-create
The dystopian novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, displays a controlled society where people have a designated position. Everyone is made in a test tube and placed in different caste: Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta, or Epsilon. The upper castes are intelligent and have managerial jobs, whereas the lower castes do the manual labor. The citizens within this society are conditioned to believe, hate, love, or do certain things that their caste requires. For instance, the Alphas are set to believe that they have the best jobs, whereas the Epsilons believe that their jobs are better because they don’t have work as hard as the other castes. The science and technology within Brave New World is what makes this society possible. The science and technology being invented today have the potential of our real world society ending up much like the society in Brave New World. Starting with the study of genetically modified bacteria leading up to genetically modified humans. And then eventually having children conceived in test tubes. All the studies and experiments being done today are the stepping stones to a controlled society much like Brave New World.
The novel, Brave New World, takes place in the future, 632 A. F. (After Ford), where biological engineering reaches new heights. Babies are no longer born viviparously, they are now decanted in bottles passed through a 2136 metre assembly line. Pre-natal conditioning of embryos is an effective way of limiting human behaviour. Chemical additives can be used to control the population not only in Huxley's future society, but also in the real world today. This method of control can easily be exercised within a government-controlled society to limit population growth and to control the flaws in future citizens. In today's world, there are chemical drugs, which can help a pregnant mother conceive more easily or undergo an abortion. In the new world, since there is no need...
Designing life from conception is an intriguing concept. Brave New World’s World State is in control of the reproduction of people by intervening medically. The Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is the factory that produces human beings. Ovaries are surgically removed, fertilized and then fetuses are kept incubated in specifically designed bottles. There are five castes which include: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Each caste is destined to have a different role; for example, an Epsilon, the lowest caste, is not capable of doing an Alpha’s job. This is because “the fetuses undergo different treatments depending on their castes. Oxygen deprivation and alcohol treatment ensure the lower intelligence and smaller size of members of the three lowers castes. Fetuses destined to work in the tropical climate are heat conditioned as embryos” (Sparknotes Editors). When producing ...
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a science fiction book that captures both the benevolent and malevolent sides of cloning and mass production of human embryos through science. Huxley’s book, published in 1932, conveys his well-developed and disturbingly accurate ideas about human behavior in what was then the distant future. Some of Huxley’s predictions have been realized today, some to a greater degree than others. These specific predictions which are closely related to today are; our sexual practices, obsession with youth and beauty, abuse of drug and the declining practice of religion. For the people of the “World State”, life is based on immediate pleasure and constant happiness; lack of religion, fixation on beauty, sex and the use of
Good morning, listeners. Welcome to Future Forum. I am Millie Shan. An exciting topic for us to discuss today is the challenges for the future. What concerns could our future generations confront? It is undeniable that rapid technological and scientific progress not only improves convenience and efficiency of our daily life, but also causes ethical concerns to humanity where science and technology intersect with society from different disciplinary aspects. In particular, preimplantation genetic technology could have alter society into a genetic hierarchy establishing a dystopian society accompanied by genetic discrimination. GATTACA made in 1997, an intriguing science fiction film directed by Andrew Niccol, delivers an insight into how the
Huxley's Brave New World fast-forwards several centuries to an imaginary civilization that has moved past traditional birth and child-rearing by parents. This society takes the guesswork out of life in order to promote consumerism and reduce social unrest. There are five inescapable castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Episilons. Caste is crucial because a citizen's work is progressively more menial the farther down the hierarchy he or she sits. In this civilization, fetuses are kept in bottles and manipulated with chemicals to be prepared mentally and physically for the jobs that have been assigned to them. After decanting (birth), they are subjected to years of conscious and sub-conscious instruction that teaches them not to question their ...
Aldous Huxley’s dystopia Brave New World is more than a warning against the dangers of technology; it is a prediction for the future that rings eerily true. Today we understand that many of the fantastical devices and practices imagined by Huxley are coming to life. Most notable is the practice of in vitro fertilization, something that was a mad scientist’s dream during Huxley’s time, is today a commonplace practice. According to the National Institute of Health, in vitro fertilization is “the joining of a woman’s egg and man’s sperm in a laboratory dish” (Storck). The procedure was first performed successfully in 1978 and since has become widely used today by couples that desire a child and are unable to conceive by “natural” means. The idea of in vitro fertilization originated in the works of British geneticist and Oxford professor JBS Haldane (Milner). Haldane imagined the practice of “ectogenesis”, or pregnancy hosted in an artificial womb, in his 1924 book Daedalus (Rosen). Haldane’s book was the inspir...
Genetic engineering for humans would eventually destroy the human natural selection theory, that everyone brought into this world was untouched and born to be who ever they were suppose to be. But with genetic engineering, scientists would be able to change unborn children to make them for acceptable to the human world.
With all factors put into place the potential benefits of perfecting human genetic engineering far outweigh the negatives. A world with genetic engineering is a world that would be advantageous to all who undergo the procedure to positively modify their DNA. A genetically engineered human race will be able to have defeated all genetic mutations and diseases, rid humans of possible illnesses in young and unborn children, create drastically longer lifespans, and provide generations with a high quality of life. Human genetic engineering has progressed more rapidly than projected; according to Stephen Hawking, when human genetic engineering is consummated he hypothesizes, “With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code.”(Hawking). The advancements that genetic engineering will provide for the human race is incredible and we will soon benefit from science and technology more than ever
Human genetic engineering can provide humanity with the capability to construct “designer babies” as well as cure multiple hereditary diseases. This can be accomplished by changing a human’s genotype to produce a desired phenotype. The outcome could cure both birth defects and hereditary diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Human genetic engineering can also allow mankind to permanently remove a mutated gene through embryo screening, as well as allow parents to choose the desired traits for their children. Negative outcomes of this technology may include the transmission of harmful diseases and the production of genetic mutations.
From lack of self-expression to drugs to the process of birth to predestined futures to the process of death, the society of Brave New World extends control over essentially all things. Even ways of life that would normally be considered an autonomous decision are regulated and in the hands of the government. For example, this includes the births and deaths of citizens. People in this society are actually not birthed but hatched. Multitudes of identical embryos are formulated in a lab and “[predestined] and [conditioned] [,] [...] [decanted] [...] as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future” (Huxley 11).
Although genetic engineering does have its upsides, parents should not be able to design their own children. The first people on Earth were born naturally and that trend has been followed for all of time, creating irreplaceable people. Society has become more and more complex, and genetic engineering will only make it more complicated, adding onto the social divisions and ideas of superiority between people. In today’s world, the attractive people with incredible wealth or political power are thought of as supreme to others, we do not need another class of people whose DNA now defines them. All in all, society needs to fix their original problems with judging others before any kind of genetic engineering is used on humans.
Although genetic engineering seems to be more harmful than helpful, when used correctly, it will help the society prosper. Considering the technology our society has currently developed, genetic engineering is a difficult topic to discuss and confirm. If the researchers confirm this process, it may become easier for the scientists and will help cure the diseases easily. The debate, however, will still be on the rise because of the issue in human morals and ethics.