A Brave New World

HSC English – Module B: Comparative Study of Texts – Brave New World and Blade Runner.



I’m now in my final weeks of uni (yay!) and I’m starting to clean already. I stumbled found some old English notes on the Brave New World. I guess during year 12, I didn’t really think that deeply about the book (although I was supposed to), but recently I have really started to compare the utopia in BNW to the world we live in now. The magic question, is the BNW merely fiction or does it show glimpses of reality? Here is my opinion.

Firstly, If you haven’t read the book, you can find a pretty good summary here:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/summary.html

Eugenics

Eugenics: the science that deals with the improvement of races and breeds, especially the human race, through the control of hereditary factors.

In the novel, every one is equal – born the same.

The notion of ‘eugenics’ is often floating around on the news – designer babies, stem cell research, genetic engineering…etc. Where do you draw the line? I guess it really depends on your morals/ethics…

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering involves the manipulation of an organism’s genes. Genetic engineering has already been used to create genetically modified organisms such as vegetables that are resistant to pests and infections. In humans, genetic engineering involves modifying the human genome.

Human genetic engineering has the potential to cure diseases and disorders, enhance physical attributes such as strength, speed, endurance and also mental aptitude and intelligence.

However, human genetic engineering currently has its limits due to varying DNA sequences between individuals.

Conditioning

I’m copy pasting a comment a friend of mine made about society – it was in response to a question about her view on society:

I think the problem today is that we don't think the better of people as much as we should. We're so defensive, brought up (by society) to be suspicious of everyone, fend for yourself, lock your doors... how can we connect with people other than the very few we carefully let into our hearts? It's so sad. We blame each other about all our problems and all of the problems in the world because we think we have to... We can't accept that we're all alive at this moment, but we will cease to be one day. We all want to be happy, to be loved. We all feel guilty about people who suffer at our expense, but we choose to ignore it because it's less painful. I wish people would wake up.

Do you think that one day someone will wake up and decide to reverse this conditioning by creating some weird conditioning process so we’ll all be happy utopian-like people?

Human Life Span

Life expectancy in the developed world has increased on from 50 in the early 20th century to 67 now. This can be linked to better sanitation; improved public health and safer water supplies have helped to extend human life. Only a few decades ago, scientists believed that 120 years was the upper limit of a human’s life span. US researchers say the fact that the oldest humans are living longer than their predecessors suggests there may not be an upper limit.

Are we aiming for immortality?…

In light of this, I think it is important to note that life expectancy in African countries continues to decline - global inequality…

How do I know this?

‘Eugenics’

http://www.onelife.com/ethics/eugenics.html#C

‘Pope condemns designer baby “eugenics”’

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21283858-1702,00.html

Human Cloning and Genetic Modification - The Basic Science You Need to Know

http://www.arhp.org/patienteducation/onlinebrochures
/cloning/index.cfm?ID=282

Human genetic engineering – A very hot Issue

http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/human-genetic-engineering.htm

‘How much can human lifespan be extended?’

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5731/83

‘No limit to human life span’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/946452.stm