“Amusing Ourselves to Death” and “Brave New World” are two different but at the same time not so different books. Both books talk about controlling people in different ways. While in Amusing Ourselves to Death they control people by inflicting pain, in Brave New World they control them by inflicting pleasure. The Brave New World society is principally characterized by using technology to keep people happy and for them not to worry about anything. The society is fully governed by the government of this world and they control every aspect of every persons life. The government maintains the stability of the society trough hypnopedia, suspension of emotions, and the promotion of consumerism. Huxley wants to basically transmit through this book that life is easier if technology takes care of us by controlling everything we do, think, or even feel.
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman describes the impact that television has had on public discourse, culture and the society back in 1985. He argues that television through entertainment and visual simulation has completely ended with the society critical thinking. While in Brave New World, Aldous says that in a future technology will be used to supress and control peoples disobedience, Postman says that technology or more specifically, television, can distract or even completely destroy people’s way of thinking. A clear connection between this two books is the way they express concern about the impact that technology has on society. Both authors based their works on the ways that technology, wether through conditioning, hypnopedia, in Brave New World or on the other hand, television, on Amusing ourselves to death can shape societal values, behaviors, and intellectual engagement in potentially detrimental ways.