Are we free Brave New World Aldous huxley
... Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued, they must accept the risk and responsibility of following their commitment wherever it leads. ... If our choices are predetermined, we are not in control of them and therefore we are not free. ... Those who respond because the reinforcement has been negative and who are therefore avoiding or escaping from punishment are doing what they have to do and do not feel free. ... Brave New World, a novel written by Aldous Huxley in 1932 depicts a future society where humans are cloned, conditioned and predestined to work at certain jobs and belong to certain social classes. ... Huxley, through the World Controller, says that modern man has chosen machinery, scientific medicine and universal happiness instead of God, has chosen them as substitutes for God and the religious impulse. ... " Huxley believed that since man was composed of body and soul, flesh and spirit, his life should reflect this dichotomy. ... In brave new world, people do not choose their futures, their jobs, their friends or their feelings. ... The gaze of the other plays a large role in Brave New World. ... Behaviourists would see Brave New World under a different light. ... With positive reinforcement, people feel as though they are doing what they want to do, they feel free. Whereas someone subject to negative reinforcement feels as though they are not doing what they want to and does not feel free. According to behaviourists, whether or not they are free is irrelevant. One may look at Brave New World as being an unrealistic, chilling, future society but the truth is, there are many similarities between the BNW society and the American society of today. ... Five men now control 95% of the world’s television stations, radio stations, newspapers, and Internet access companies, and every day more companies “merge” under one management to form larger companies1. Approximately twenty major corporations account for approximately 80% of profits made on both the stock market and in world markets1. ... Just like in Brave New World we live in a consumer driven society where the Gaze of Others drastically effect the amount we consume.