When reading the book Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley and the book Amusing ourselves to Death by Neil postman, it raised the question for me: Is anything in the book we see as happiness, is that even real happiness or is it just something they were told to be by soma or television. Is constant amusement and happiness a good things, or is all this irrelevant happiness provided in these books eventually going to degrade us into shells of what we used to be and projections of what we want to be. I made a similar conclusion while in a heated debate a had with a classmate a few year ago. We were arguing about just this: infinite happiness. They argued that if we were happy all the time then all of our problems would be solved and there would be peace and agreement among everyone. Then I said something that very much relates to what both books are expressing. I said “Happiness all the time is the equivalent of not feeling anything at all: you might as well be a fish in a fish bowl!” What I had mean by saying this is that If you don’t feel any thing and are happy all the time, what is to become of you? without ambition, anger or pain to push you forward you might as well sit is a fish bowl, observing every eye-catching thing that amuses you.
In Brave new world this is exactly the case where there is an abundance of unconditional happiness in the for of soma. There was no more diseases or sadness because there was now no need for it with soma. But at the same time, with happiness being the only thing the characters in Brave New World felt, they had no anger or sadness in them to realize any of the oppression and control they were under. It was as Postman said when comparing Aldous Huxley’s Brave new world: “Huxley feared what we love will ruin us” (Postman N. Amusing Ourselves to Death). The people in Brave New World were literally hypnotised into doing what the government and the Controller wanted them to do and rewarded them with soma and feelies. This is eerily similar to how you give a pet a treat after completing a trick despite having kidnapped them, imprisoned them and control their lives. Despite this they love you, like the people is Brave New World “would come to love their oppression and adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” – (Postman N. Amusing Ourselves to Death).
In Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death this is also the case when Postman describes his worries that the age of showmanship and television poses to the people of today. He described how the television and the age of showmanship is slowly rotating people’s beliefs to rather than trust the most trust worthy product, but the product with the prettiest people and the most amusing jingles. As Neil Postman described his concerns
“Although the constitution makes no mention of it, it would appear that fat people are now effectively excluded from running for high political office. Probably bald people as well. Almost certainly those whose looks are not significantly enhanced by the cosmetician’s art. Indeed we may have reached the point where cosmetics have replaced ideology in the field of expertise”
– Postman’s Amusing ourselves to death (p. 4)
Now people, much like brave new world are being conditioned to trust these smiling faces built on empty promises to lead a country. Much like Aldous Huxley’s Brave new world we are coming love their oppression and adore the technologies that undo our capacities to think.
Now as I look back at these two books do I realise how much they mirror the world we like in today. How kids in class today need constant in class entertainment or else they clock out. How politics showcased on the news is only ever about trivial high-stake things. And how even religions that are supposed to be full of sacrifice and honour have now accommodated to the media to become something its not. How everything we see is now a sea of irrelevance and we a fish in a bowl, watching it for our amusnment.