For a long time, various writers and philosophers have delved into the topic of studying society. In particular, most of them were concerned about his future and the direction in which it was developing. Therefore, such thoughts became the impetus for the formation of such genres as a dystopia. Within the framework of this literary approach, the authors attempt to point out social problems that can have serious negative consequences and lead to stratification and decay of people’s arrangements and lives. In addition, many philosophers created works that did not relate to fiction and presented a picture of the future awaiting individuals. Examples of these narratives are “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman. Thus, this work will study the similarities between the visions of the authors of these literary works and their view of society.
First of all, before proceeding to the analysis of works, it is necessary to gain an understanding of what they represent. Henceforth, “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is a dystopia famous all over the world, which makes an attempt to imagine what can become of humanity under the influence of technological development. Thus, fiction presents to readers the World State, in which time is measured “after Ford,” that is after Henry Ford created his car Model T (Huxley 2). Society is deprived of any emotions and their manifestations since they are forbidden to express them from an early age. Moreover, people adhere to the motto “every one belongs to every one else” (Huxley 5). The main protagonist, who is often called Savage in the book, makes an attempt to change the new society, but his attempts are unsuccessful.
Particular importance in this work should be given to the social structure. Consequently, even before birth, all individuals are assigned a class, and “the embryos, which exist within tubes and incubators, are provided with differing amounts of chemicals and hormones in order to condition them into predetermined classes” (Lohnes para. 2). Children from early childhood are introduced to the concepts of love and erotic relationships between people and they take people on excursions to the dying to make people understand that death is a natural and unremarkable process. To suppress emotions and individuals in general, “somas” are used, which are narcotic substances (Huxley 5). With its help, the mind is clouded, which will allow the state to manipulate society.
The philosophical work “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman is largely considered prophetic for the modern world. This is due to the fact that the author focuses on the impact that television and other media sources of information have. Thus, in the work, the author “argues that most Americans look to television for public information and discussion, but television, by its nature, reduces discourse to entertainment” (Herzog p. 88). Research stated that “undermined our own political discourse with shallow, trivial, TV-centric entertainment, dulled and lulled to sleep by the consumption of endless imagery” (Cigelske 181). In other words, the author examined the question of what could happen if politics, journalism, education, and even religion become the subject of universal interest and entertainment.
Thus, this work becomes an addition to the ongoing controversies and a study in the sphere of what influence media sources can have on society. The value of Postman’s work also lies in the fact that he focuses on the two most famous dystopias of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, providing a comparison of the visions of the future of humanity presented in them. Thus, the author determines that, at the moment, society is moving according to the scenario of the first writer.
Further, this work can proceed to consider how the ideas of the future Postman and Huxley intersected and had similar concepts. Thus, both authors emphasize that technological development will lead to negative consequences for people and deprive them of a full-fledged ability to think and make decisions. Television, in this context, is compared to a light drug created by Huxley’s government, which works as a tool for limiting citizens’ rights in exchange for entertainment. As a result, it gets ample opportunities to manage not only the flow of disseminated information, but also, by hiding behind the usual way of spending time, to influence the thoughts and feelings of individuals.
Moreover, the similarities in how the writers proposed the future of American society are manifested in the role played by mind-suppressing substances. Hence, “soma” in the Huxley world and television in modern society are both used not only by the state but also by people themselves. Therefore, they prefer various forms of entertainment and relaxation to escape from reality. In other words, they prefer to exist in an alternate reality that will allow them to avoid encountering the cruelty of the world and get rid of any unwanted thoughts.
Furthermore, on closer examination, there are clear parallels between the World State and the society Postman predicts. Thus, particular importance in these literary works is given to the impact of the state on the public at the expense of the information it consumes. The emphasis, in this case, is on the rapid dissemination of data. Thus, the higher the level of exposure of people to various information, the less they have the opportunity to comprehend it properly and analyze it correctly. Consequently, circumstances arise in which individuals become passive and accept what they are told as the truth. Postman points out that this is becoming a “figment of the technological imagination” (Postman 8). Therefore, the rulers “instead of coercive mechanisms of control such as military force, focus on the ‘disciplinary power’ which is based on surveillance, moving away from the absolute expenditure of power to that which entails minimum expenditure and maximum efficiency” (Hamamra 13). Thus, both authors point to the detrimental impact of innovations that are used by the elite to manipulate people.
In conclusion, this paper examined the similarities between the ideas of the future society, which were proposed by authors such as Aldous Huxley and Neil Postman. The need to analyze these literary works is that, in this way, people can gain awareness of how the technologization of society and exposure to media sources affect the construction of a passive and dependent society. “Brave New World” and “Amusing Ourselves to Death” become unique sources of transmission of a possible picture of the future and have many parallels in the narratives. Therefore, both works focus on how the state can influence the initiative and activity of individuals using tools to suppress their consciousness. Thus, the constant presence of technologies and media sources in the life of society has serious negative consequences, and the authors emphasize the need for people to realize the growing problem.
Works Cited
Cigelske, Tim. “Politics and Culture: Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?.” Journal of Media Ethics, vol. 32, no. 3, 2017, pp. 181-183.
Hamamra, Bilal Tawfiq. “A Foucauldian reading of Huxley’s Brave New World.” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, pp. 12-17.
Herzog Jr, William A. “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Christian Scholar’s Review, vol. 51, no. 1, 2021, pp. 88-90.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Good Press, 2021.
Lohnes, Kate. “Brave New World.” Britannica, Web.
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, 2005.