Book 242 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: For Ford’s Sake…Emotions Are Not Our Enemy!

Book – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Book Description:

Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New World likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

Reflection:

STABILITY!

I can’t get this word, said in an English accent, out of my head after finishing Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Man…the book I recently finished, Amusing Ourselves to Death, has really sent me down a rabbit hole of classic dystopian fiction novels the past few weeks upon its completion. The author of that book mentioned 1984 and Brave New World so many times in reference to points he was making about society at large that I thought I had to check them out for myself to learn more. I had heard of 1984, but not Brave New World. Naturally, because of previous familiarity, I began with foray into early 20th century dystopian novels with 1984 and loved it. I thought, why the Ford not give Brave New World a try as well after enjoying 1984 so much. I did, and here we are. My Ford, I really enjoyed this one as well. For the record, 1984 was way better though.

Quick Note - If you haven’t figured out the “Ford” references yet, that is what the citizens of the Brave New World refer to as their defacto “God” modeled after their reverence for Henry Ford. I thought that was hilarious. I’m already envisioning myself on a tennis court yelling “For Ford’s Sake!!!!” after I miss an easy shot I knew I should have made.

“Community, identity, stability,” every aspect of society in a Brave New World follows that phrase. In this new world, everyone belongs to everyone else. The people live in one community, follow their pre-destined identity, and lead stable lives as a result.

In this Brave New World, to maintain stability, the citizen’s emotions are systematically conditioned out of them from birth and then controlled with pharmaceuticals to maintain a “stable” state throughout their life until they die. Their only focus is on maintaining “happiness” and order for the sake of STABILTY!

Here’s the thing, these types of novels are creative, interesting, thought provoking, and provocative, but they always forget one thing…HUMANS HAVE BIG, BEAUTIFUL, and UNCONTROLLABLE EMOTIONS!!!!

Humans are emotional beings, will always be emotional being, and there is no way to separate them from our existence. They are here to stay whether we like it or not.

Emotions aren’t the bad guy. I feel like everyone likes to think of emotions as this thing that makes us weak, vulnerable, and stupid. I think emotions are the exact opposite. Emotions are unique and powerful weapons that make humans truly special. The ability to feel love, happiness, pain, suffering, sadness, joy, anger, passion, and courage is incredible. Sure, on the surface, emotions may seem like the definition of instability and that may be right. But as we’ve learned on this journey, things are never exactly how they first appear because nature is clever, nuanced, and way smarter than we are. Dig a little deeper and you might find that emotions may be unstable, individually, but taken as a whole, may actually be the key to STABILITY that the designers of this Brave New World really hope to create.

Emotions may be noise, but there is always a signal hidden deep in each emotion pointing us in the right direction if we are willing to take the time to listen and explore. If we spent more time embracing our emotions, understanding them, and helping to channel them in a particular direction than we would see incredible results.

Stability comes from embracing all of what makes us human, including our beautiful, crazy, and misunderstood emotions!

Question: Are you running away from your emotions for the sake of stability? Maybe, try the opposite and run right at them and you will find what you seek.

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? - An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley