Save Yourself From Yourself
Last week, we read and discussed ‘Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley in the Read Write Inspire Classics Book Club.
The picture painted by Aldous Huxley in his ‘Brave New World’ is scarier than most other dystopian novels because it is so close to the truth. In today’s world, we don’t need a dictator to stop our access to relevant news, real history, and valuable books. We do it to ourselves.
We prefer those screaming, doctored, political debates on television to reading the newspapers calmly and accessing channels with balanced and informative views.
We watch a quick 5-minute YouTube video to learn about a historical event rather than read books (or even one) that give us multiple perspectives about that event.
Today’s youth want a partner who would drink, dance, and party with them but not one who would hold them to high standards and challenge them to better themselves.
We listen to the one who screams the loudest.
We wear the brand that is most recognizable.
We want a life that is easy and comfortable.
Whenever there is a free moment, a few minutes of time to think and reflect, we bring out our mobile phones to twinkle and distract us away from this real world, the one that makes us uncomfortable, the one that forces us to think.
Upon Austin Kleon’s recommendation in his blog, I started reading ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death’ by Neil Postman. In this book, the author states:
“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.
As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions. In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us.”
Postman says that we don’t talk to friends anymore. We entertain friends. We exchange images. The advertisements don’t talk about the character of the products but about the character of the people using the products. Politics is show business. Politicians don’t need to be honest or hardworking. They just must project an image that they are.
The worst part is no one can save us. There is no one to complain to.
The only way out of this is to READ & WRITE. As Postman says, “The written word endures, the spoken word disappears”. He says the world is moving “from the magic of writing to the magic of electronics.” And he said that in 1985, nearly twenty-two years before the launch of the iPhone. Things are worse now.
Reading is a serious activity and words are powerful. “The reader must come armed, in a serious state of intellectual readiness. This is not easy because he comes to the text alone. In reading, one's responses are isolated, one’s intellect thrown back on its own resources. To be confronted by the cold abstractions of printed sentences is to look upon language bare, without the assistance of either beauty or community. Thus, reading is by its nature a serious business. It is also, of course, an essentially rational activity.”
In my opinion, only two things can save us from hurling into the ‘Brave New World’:
1. Abstinence– from mindless pleasure, endless scrolling, daily news cycles, blinking screens, screaming notifications, binge-watching, social media, and information overload.
2. Mindfulness –
a. Being aware and watchful of what and who you let into your life
b. Being aware and careful of how you spend your time and what you spend your life on. (Remember what Annie Dillard says: “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives.”)
c. Embracing stillness and silence every day.
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Further Reading
You can read reviews about ‘Brave New World’ at
Tulika’s Instagram (Tulika is a consistent participant at the Read Write Inspire Book Club and she adds immense value to every discussion.)
Austin Kleon’s Blog where he talks about how Huxley’s dystopian novel is closer to reality than even Orwell’s 1984.
Watch on YouTube the entire discussion.
