Over-reliance on Science and Technology: A Damaged Quality of Life As Found In Huxley's A Brave New World

Advancements in science and technology can be very beneficial, but they also pose a big threat. What happens when they are relied too heavily upon? There is a loss of communication, relationships, and freedom. The majority of the population begins to live in fear as a select few delve deeper into the next big phenomenon, or what they believe to be the means by which the society will prosper. This infatuation with science and technology will bring nothing but destruction, as it prevents all individuals from fully experiencing life.

In Huxley’s Brave New World, there are no mothers, no fathers, and no families. Why should there be when the Controllers can create a human being with any number of qualities they want? Humans are products. How can they be improved? What can be done to make them more profitable? The Controllers know that they are taking away the right to individuality; they know that they are taking away the right to live. Does this concern them, or are they too focused on the possible benefits that genetic engineering has to offer ?

The synthetic production of humans in Brave New World is a complex process. Each step requires patience and accurate persecution . The goal is to mass produce humans, while at the same time, giving them the best qualities. Five groups of people are produced: Epsilons, Gammas, Deltas, Betas, and Alphas. Although Epsilons, Gammas, and Deltas are made to be less intelligent than Alphas and Betas, each group undergoes Bokanvosky’s Process. Using this process, one egg will divide, forming up to “ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo…making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before” (Huxley 17).

In today’s society, “Surveys have shown that 40 ...

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...here is always a new discovery to be made. Although each of them may have benefits, are they all worth the time. There needs to be balance. Everybody needs to remember the things that are truly important: communication, love, and individuality. The list goes on. Science and technology may provide miraculous breakthroughs every once in a while, but sometimes it leads everybody down a dark road. Each and every individual must come together as a whole, in order to determine where the line needs to be drawn.

Works Cited

Frankel, Mark S. "Inheritable Genetic Modification and a Brave New World: Did Huxley Have It Wrong?" The Hastings Center Report (2003): 31-36.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc. , 1932.

Huxley, Aldous. "Chemical Persuasion." Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1932. 296-303.