Methods of Psychological Control in Brave New World The famous Milgram experiment focused on the conflict between blind obedience to authority and personal conscience. It turned out that 65% of ordinary people blindly follow orders given by an authority figure, and only 30% are able to follow their personal conscience (McLeod). Considering that the vast majority acquire blind obedience to authority just in the process of nurturing, imagine what would it be like if blind obedience is built into one’s nature? In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley illustrates ways in which government and advanced science control society by conditioning embryos to blindly follow desirable social norms. Every conditioned individual would have merited instincts …show more content…
to conform without even realizing that they are doing so. In this Dystopian society, people are controlled through means including a caste system, psychological and emotional manipulation, as well as social isolation. One aspect of control that is touched upon from the beginning of the novel until the end is the caste system based on biological traits.
Brave New World portrays a society that is split into five castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Alphas and Betas are the most attractive and the smartest people in the World State Society. In order for higher castes to maintain greater social status and power, Alphas and Betas are the only ones allowed to learn and read a wide range of literature works. The other extreme is the Epsilons, the lowest caste, who are dwarfs and have no ability to think due to undeveloped brains and skeletons. This is done by controlling the light, oxygen supply, and injecting chemicals at their embryonic stages. The fact that everyone’s intelligence and physical appearance are predetermined means that higher castes would always have the most rewarding and powerful jobs while the lower castes are assigned tedious manual labours. Castes are kept separate to maintain the community’s stability; each individual views members of a different caste as faceless, nameless …show more content…
“others”. Moreover, class conflicts are eliminated because everyone is satisfied with their given social status. Such self-satisfaction and moral beliefs are achieved in the Infant Nurseries by hypnopædia, “the greatest moralizing and socializing force” (Huxley, 21). After listening to a message for “a hundred and twenty times three times a week for thirty months” (Huxley, 21), babies can only form socially acceptable beliefs including classism and psychological satisfaction. According to the Self-determination Theory, psychological satisfaction is one of the three basic needs of a human being (Ryan, Richard M.). In the WSS, people have no motivation to progress since conditioning helps meet their psychological needs. They faithfully believe that “[they] can’t do without anyone. Even Epsilons are useful. [They] couldn't do without Epsilons” (Huxley, 71). Thus, the extermination of class conflicts maintains a stable society where citizens are controlled by the highly implemented caste system. In order to control the purity and stability of the caste system, people are accustomed to consider viviparity and families as “unpleasant historical facts” (Huxley, 34). Under the belief that emotional attachment is illegal, polygamy is promoted to reduce the intimacy between men and women. Sex becomes a deliberately designed religious service to annihilate individuality. Romance, love, and loyalty are blurred. Additionally, soma is used to manipulate emotions by providing wonderful hallucinations and remove negative thoughts such as frustration and loneliness. The society, therefore, encourages everyone to take soma as a means of social control. John's plea to the Deltas to throw away their soma and rebel goes unheeded because “somatized” people do not recognize their degradation; thus, are not conscious that they are individuals. Conditioned beliefs and soma work in conjunction to oppose ideas such as solitude and skeptical thinking towards the system. Lower castes have lost their ability to think when they are nurtured. Between higher castes, doubts about the society are eliminated through a combination of social taboos, peer supervision, and government intervention. The Solidarity Service at Fordson Community Singery is a social scheme to destroy individualism and promote hedonism within groups. In such a world where drugs are used as a social control to maintain the caste system, stability lives but individuality is dead. The ultimate method of social control is isolation.
Mustapha Mond thinks uniqueness is uselessness, uniformity is bliss; therefore, the presence of savage reservation and Iceland. Those who contradict or do not fit into the existing social system are sent to Iceland in isolation from civilization. Bernard was eventually sent to Iceland, “a place where he'll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere in the world” (Huxley, 172). The fact that Mustapha Mond calls self-conscious individuals interesting reveals his opinion of that individualism must be sacrificed for the stability of power and the community. Those who think and learn purely for knowledge might discover the true beauty of science but will definitely threaten the orderly society, which causes them to be isolated from the “somatized” group. In the same way, the savages are not allowed to communicate with civilization. Individuals who “still preserve their repulsive habits and customs; marriage; families; no conditioning; monstrous superstitions, Christianity and totemism and ancestor worship” (Huxley, 102) are considered dangerous savages. They are dangerous because their moral values are not acceptable in WSS; thus, they could threaten civilization by spreading unwelcome religious beliefs. When proselytism is eliminated by isolation, people in the civilized society are constrained to study a socially acceptable
religion. The idea of external control boils down to the oppression of individuals whose human nature, at its very core, demands freedom. In that case, no amount of dictatorial force can eliminate basic human desires. Brave New World, therefore, takes the idea of control to the next level: establishing internal control by incorporating social stratification, psychological and emotional manipulation, and social segregation.
In "The Perils of Obedience," Stanley Milgram conducted a study that tests the conflict between obedience to authority and one's own conscience. Through the experiments, Milgram discovered that the majority of people would go against their own decisions of right and wrong to appease the requests of an authority figure.
Obedience is when you do something you have been asked or ordered to do by someone in authority. As little kids we are taught to follow the rules of authority, weather it is a positive or negative effect. Stanley Milgram, the author of “The perils of Obedience” writes his experiment about how people follow the direction of an authority figure, and how it could be a threat. On the other hand Diana Baumrind article “Review of Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience,” is about how Milgram’s experiment was inhumane and how it is not valid. While both authors address how people obey an authority figure, Milgram focuses more on how his experiment was successful while Baumrind seems more concerned more with how Milgram’s experiment was flawed and
In July of 1961, Stanley Milgram began his experiment of obedience. He first published an article, Behavioral Study of Obedience, in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology in 1963. This article, Behavioral Study of Obedience, is what this paper will be critiquing. He then wrote a book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, in 1974 discussing his results in more detail. Milgram’s inspiration was the World War II and Adolf Hitler. During World War II, millions of innocent people were killed in a very organized manor. Milgram (1963) compares the organization and accuracy of the deaths, to the “efficiency as the manufacture of appliances” (p. 371). Milgram (1963) defines obedience as “the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose” (p. 371). Milgram acknowledges that it may only take one person to come up with an idea, such as Hitler coming up with a way to eradicate the Jews, but would take an
Stanley Milgram’s experiment shows societies that more people with abide by the rules of an authority figure under any circumstances rather than follow their own nature instinct. With the use of his well-organized article that appeals to the general public, direct quotes and real world example, Milgram’s idea is very well-supported. The results of the experiment were in Milgram’s favor and show that people are obedient to authority figures. Stanley Milgram shows the reader how big of an impact authority figures have but fails to answer the bigger question. Which is more important, obedience or morality?
At one point or another everyone has been a witness to that strange boy in the corner of the grocery store spending an hour choosing candy. Every time you pass him, his determined and focused expression catches your eye and you can't resist the curiosity as to why this crazy kid still is so focused on choosing the best possible way to get a cavity. The reasons may be simple, but reasons happen in consequence of life influences. Likewise the boy's influence could be his amazing goal setting that his mother taught him and because of that he finds it special in his own way to find the best candy bar for the best satisfaction. In like fashion, John from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World also stands with his decisions. Both boys have influences that affect their reasons and consequently create a decision. Linda and Shakespeare are the influences that keep John soaring through decisions.
In character analysis, one may often ask what is the effects of nature vs. nurture? However, this question does not provide many concrete answers. In regards to the literary work, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, this question becomes even more perplexing, as the “modern” society lacks many aspects of the natural world and relies on conditioning rather than nurturing.For all intents and purposes, the citizens of what John dubs “‘[the] brave new world’” are little more than infants or pre programmed dolls, carrying out the orders and beliefs that have been instilled in them since birth (141). Perhaps the most interesting case of character comes from John himself, who grew up in a society whose beliefs lie far outside of those of the modern society, yet remained ostracized from it due to his parental connection to said modern world. Alienated by two distinctly
There were quite a few changes made from Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World to turn it into a “made for TV” movie. The first major change most people noticed was Bernard Marx’s attitude. In the book he was very shy and timid toward the opposite sex, he was also very cynical about their utopian lifestyle. In the movie Bernard was a regular Casanova. He had no shyness towards anyone. A second major deviation the movie made form the book was when Bernard exposed the existing director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, Bernard himself was moved up to this position. In the book the author doesn’t even mention who takes over the position. The biggest change between the two was Lenina, Bernard’s girlfriend becomes pregnant and has the baby. The screenwriters must have made this up because the author doesn’t even mention it. The differences between the book and the movie both helped it and hurt it.
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing.
The characters in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World represent certain political and social ideas. Huxley used what he saw in the world in which he lived to form his book. From what he saw, he imagined that life was heading in a direction of a utopian government control. Huxley did not imagine this as a good thing. He uses the characters of Brave New World to express his view of utopia being impossible and detrimental. One such character he uses to represent the idealogy behind this is Bernard Marx.
The caste system of this brave new world is equally ingenious. Free from the burdens and tensions of a capitalistic system, which separates people into social classes by natural selection, this dictatorship government is only required to determine the correct number of Alphas, Betas, all the way down the line. Class warfare does not exist because greed, the basic ingredient of capitalism, has been eliminated. Even Deltas and Epsilons are content to do their manual labor. This contentment arises both from the genetic engineering and the extensive conditioning each individual goes through in childhood. In this society, freedom, such as art and religion, in this society has been sacrificed for what Mustapha Mond calls happiness. Indeed almost all of Huxley's characters, save Bernard and the Savage, are content to take their soma ration, go to the feelies, and live their mindless, grey lives.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.
Introduction Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous, especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to, but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority; for example, the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience, reflecting how this can be destructive in real life experiences. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid, hence useless.
...g factors such as fear of consequences for not obeying, human nature’s willingness to conform, perceived stature of authority and geographical locations. I also believe that due to most individual’s upbringings they will trust and obey anyone in an authoritative position even at the expense of their own moral judgment. I strongly believe that Stanley Milgram’s experiments were a turning point for the field of social psychology and they remind us that “ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process”. Despite these findings it is important to point out it is human nature to be empathetic, kind and good to our fellow human beings. The shock experiments reveal not blind obedience but rather contradictory ethical inclinations that lie deep inside human beings.
Within history, there has been quite a few phycologists and researchers who have validated their reasoning in the most inhumane and unethical ways. However, Stanley Milgram’s experiment was so shocking to us because he observed a trait we use every day. Milgram’s 1963 studies of obedience experiment were designed to analyze how people would respond to orders that are morally unacceptable. This study has become the model for human behaviors as well as the acceptance of authoritative roles. This essay will outline Milgram’s experiment by describing the process, and analyze the social acceptance to Milgram’s experiment then and present day.
The Beta caste is conditioned to be happy with their placement in society. They are taught to believe that they are the best class in their society. By conditioning the Beta caste to believe in this, the World State is taking away their individuality. Without their individuality, the Beta caste cannot think on their own, and thus will not try to seek more power in the community that they are in. Overall, the effects of the Hypnopaedia conditioning results in a stable community, thus conforming the individual people to have the same values as the World State, and therefore losing their individuality in the