less than 2 hours until it's Friday... YES! HALLOWEEKEND! :)
In the video, "Changing Education Paradigms," Sir Ken Robinson comments on education in today's society. He says that education is modeled after and made in the image of "the interests of industrialization," with schools "organized on factory lines" (you know, school bells ringing, separate buildings for different subjects, sitting in classrooms in rows and rows of desks, etc) that "educate children in batches." He expands, saying that the only thing that matters in a student is their "date of manufacture."
Similarly, the Utopian society created by Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, is assembled around factory line technology, going as far as creating each individual through "human invention" (13). Through their "modern fertilizing process," people are literally assembled together through different rooms through Bokanovsky's Process, for the "good of Society" (5). They too, center around industry, mapping time in years A.F. (After Ford), the "Father of Assembly Line Technology," which revolutionized industry in not only our country, but in the world. People in Huxley's world are seen not as individuals, but as a whole, being manipulated in "batches," just as students today are being educated. Focus in both worlds is not on developing an individual, but is on the overall progression of scientific knowledge and industry.
Oh no, he wasn't done making weirdly similar parallels to the two worlds yet .
Robinson talks about students in our country with ADHD, who are being "medicated as routinely as we have our tonsils taken out." They're being drugged with Ritalin and other drugs in order to calm them down and help them focus on the ultimate goal of education, which allows them to be productive members of society. He says the arts are programs that suffer the most from the "fictitious epidemic" known as ADHD, being that those drugs are anesthetic, taking away all emotion from an experience, not allowing the person under the influence to be "fully alive."
Likewise, soma, the drug in Brave New World is given to citizens in order to "make lives emotionally easy," saving them from those "horrible emotions;" feeling is therefore suppressed, shortening "that interval of time between desire and its consummation," which "breaks down all of those old unnecessary barriers" (44,45). Soma was "passed from hand to hand" like a routine tonsil visit. Both soma and Ritalin suppress the emotions of those who are under the influence of the drugs. With that suppression of emotions, the ultimate goal of becoming progressive is achieved. Progression does not necessarily require an emotional connection, but rather an anesthetic connection, thus enabling it to be achieved.
In case you didn't catch on, my title is referring to Amanda Brown Young. Bye! :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
we'll all float on alright...
Am I the only person who thought that the way those babies were treated was horrible? :( Chapter 3's multiple conversations were confusing, too. What a disgusting color khaki is. Just thought I would express my love for this book. It's so uplifting!
"Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment."
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, society has been manipulated through "human invention [and] a series of arrests of development" in order to create "social stability," or "progress." The entire population is created through scientific processes, in which those people "tend" to those wheels. They work as a machine, controlling the production and fixation of how society functions, in order to keep order on a stable "axle." The Controllers, a group of ten people that control (crazy how those names work...) the different designated classes of people maintain the motto that "the machine turns, turns and must keep on turning - forever."
Everyone who is working as a "machine," tending to the "wheels," are able to be "stable in contentment," because in these days of A.F., through "wordless conditioning,...sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth." The Controllers are able to condition those underneath them to abide and enjoy whatever has been taught to them. Various things are manipulated in the wheel that must be "tended" to.
For example, people in Huxley's world are "taught no history," in order to protect citizens from "corrupted, old forbidden books," which were "suppressed before A.F. 150." The Controllers are able to keep the citizens focused on consumption, because throughout life, the people will have "not a moment to sit down and think." Those books manipulate the human experience completely, being that they strip those humans from any exploration of thought. Without an exploration of thought, along with "wordless conditioning," the value system guiding Huxley's society is completely manipulated to produce the desired outcome of consumption, and thus, "progress."
Furthermore, in order to further "stabilize" humans, emotions like passion and desire are suppressed, in order to make "lives emotionally easy...from those horrible emotions" Those in power strive to "shorten" the interval of feeling, which "lurks...between desire and its consummation." By stressing how easy life is without those horrible emotions, there is a perception that the controllers have the best in mind for those controlled. Since those people feel grateful for that absence of emotion, human experience is easily manipulated, so satisfaction and stabilization is then easily implemented into their minds. For those who might not feel as much gratitude, Controllers offer "soma,...the perfect drug," in which "stability was practically assured." Humans are able to experience an alternate reality through the drug, which was, still created by Controllers, so human experience is still easily manipulated. The drug enables satisfaction to be maintained, since it offers an escape. With the combination of an emotional void and an alternate reality, desired outcomes designated by those in control are easily achieved. Through the manipulation of various aspects of life in Huxley's Brave New World, men are able to obediently tend to the wheel of "Progress."
Au revoir.
"Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment."
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, society has been manipulated through "human invention [and] a series of arrests of development" in order to create "social stability," or "progress." The entire population is created through scientific processes, in which those people "tend" to those wheels. They work as a machine, controlling the production and fixation of how society functions, in order to keep order on a stable "axle." The Controllers, a group of ten people that control (crazy how those names work...) the different designated classes of people maintain the motto that "the machine turns, turns and must keep on turning - forever."
Everyone who is working as a "machine," tending to the "wheels," are able to be "stable in contentment," because in these days of A.F., through "wordless conditioning,...sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth." The Controllers are able to condition those underneath them to abide and enjoy whatever has been taught to them. Various things are manipulated in the wheel that must be "tended" to.
For example, people in Huxley's world are "taught no history," in order to protect citizens from "corrupted, old forbidden books," which were "suppressed before A.F. 150." The Controllers are able to keep the citizens focused on consumption, because throughout life, the people will have "not a moment to sit down and think." Those books manipulate the human experience completely, being that they strip those humans from any exploration of thought. Without an exploration of thought, along with "wordless conditioning," the value system guiding Huxley's society is completely manipulated to produce the desired outcome of consumption, and thus, "progress."
Furthermore, in order to further "stabilize" humans, emotions like passion and desire are suppressed, in order to make "lives emotionally easy...from those horrible emotions" Those in power strive to "shorten" the interval of feeling, which "lurks...between desire and its consummation." By stressing how easy life is without those horrible emotions, there is a perception that the controllers have the best in mind for those controlled. Since those people feel grateful for that absence of emotion, human experience is easily manipulated, so satisfaction and stabilization is then easily implemented into their minds. For those who might not feel as much gratitude, Controllers offer "soma,...the perfect drug," in which "stability was practically assured." Humans are able to experience an alternate reality through the drug, which was, still created by Controllers, so human experience is still easily manipulated. The drug enables satisfaction to be maintained, since it offers an escape. With the combination of an emotional void and an alternate reality, desired outcomes designated by those in control are easily achieved. Through the manipulation of various aspects of life in Huxley's Brave New World, men are able to obediently tend to the wheel of "Progress."
Au revoir.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
In preparation of writing about The Tempest!
Just a head's up for you, I'm pretty much ready to crash, so this blog might not make sense. If you have anything to say that might help me, you should comment on this. It would be greatly appreciated. :)
In discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been whether or not Shakespeare intended for an emphasis on colonialism to be analyzed. While it is agreed upon that the play does highlight colonialism throughout, the issue of whether or not it should be analyzed has been debated. George Will argues that the analysis of literature is "rendering the plays unrecognizable to the ordinary reader and playgoer." On the other hand, Stephen Greenblatt says that analyzing literature through a "lens" such as postcolonialism will deepen "the ordinary reader's pleasure rather than undermine it."
Even though I've said previously that I was on the fence between who I agree with more, I have decided that I agree with Greenblatt moreso than I do Will. While they both make valid points on the analysis of Shakespearean literature, Greenblatt's stance on analyzing in order to find a deeper meaning within literary works allows me as a writer to have a lot more freedom when writing about The Tempest. When I say that I have more freedom, I am talking about the fact that looking at and analyzing the play through different perspectives, I will begin to see and develop new insights to the play itself. Through the use of analyzing Shakespeare's emphasis on colonialism through lenses such as postcolonialism, I can formulate my own ideas, and therefore contribute to the overall discussion between Will and Greenblatt on the analysis of literature. By using both Will and Greenblatt's ideas and combining them with my own, I think that my overall paper on The Tempest will be stronger and have a valid contribution to the debate presented.
In discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been whether or not Shakespeare intended for an emphasis on colonialism to be analyzed. While it is agreed upon that the play does highlight colonialism throughout, the issue of whether or not it should be analyzed has been debated. George Will argues that the analysis of literature is "rendering the plays unrecognizable to the ordinary reader and playgoer." On the other hand, Stephen Greenblatt says that analyzing literature through a "lens" such as postcolonialism will deepen "the ordinary reader's pleasure rather than undermine it."
Even though I've said previously that I was on the fence between who I agree with more, I have decided that I agree with Greenblatt moreso than I do Will. While they both make valid points on the analysis of Shakespearean literature, Greenblatt's stance on analyzing in order to find a deeper meaning within literary works allows me as a writer to have a lot more freedom when writing about The Tempest. When I say that I have more freedom, I am talking about the fact that looking at and analyzing the play through different perspectives, I will begin to see and develop new insights to the play itself. Through the use of analyzing Shakespeare's emphasis on colonialism through lenses such as postcolonialism, I can formulate my own ideas, and therefore contribute to the overall discussion between Will and Greenblatt on the analysis of literature. By using both Will and Greenblatt's ideas and combining them with my own, I think that my overall paper on The Tempest will be stronger and have a valid contribution to the debate presented.
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