Brave New World 题目是讽刺，如果没有野蛮人最后和总统的对话，我可能并不会觉得作者有多厉害，最后约翰对自己鞭挞是他对“文明世界”反抗，尽管他矛盾着，被排斥，被当成猴看，个人的觉醒还是不足以对抗统治阶级进行的全民麻痹（朝鲜）。。。之前我对赫胥黎的书产生了误解，称什么此书是对未来世界的预言，与娱乐至死的对比铺天盖地，时至今日我才明白，这是对可能性的一种必然猜测，作者有深邃的人文社会思考才能写出这样的书，他可能没有语中全世界，但至少他说中了朝鲜(不幸一语成谶)。通篇的隐射都是可以对号朝鲜入座，除了发达的高科技之外！
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原始欲望vs自由意志
电影里面的英雄都被赋予了自由意志。因为那看起来很好，很正义无私。
事实上这是不可能应用在大部分人身上的。社会是由一群自私的人组成，包括我在内。
同理，大部分人愿意渴望完美，抛弃自由 —— 有了幸福，要自由干什么呢？我们要自由的原因不就是 不让别人帮你做 会让自己不幸福的决定 吗？那么现在被人都帮你幸福了，要自由干什么呢？
这就是这本书《美丽新世界》的世界观。作者: Dimnsk 时间: 2013-9-8 23:17
如果说人人都应该拥有追求幸福的权利，那么是不是暗含着幸福就应该是每个人的生存目标之一，而并非每个人都能够达到这个目标，所以才如此强调。
如果这个假设成立，那么幸福之所以是珍贵的，那是因为幸福是有代价的。这个代价便是承受着与幸福相对应的苦恼、焦虑、痛苦与不幸。
正因为新世界里的每一个人都幸福，这种幸福才不伟大。如果幸福的代价便是对人性的多样性的否定，认为人应该在稳定的、各司其职的环境下被设定成工蚁的一个工种，那么这只是动物性的幸福罢了。人只能遵循着跟动物无异的原欲，反射性的借soma回避”设置好“的厌恶与痛苦，那么人之于动物的区别便不再存在。
记得在《一个》上看到过一句话：”正因为痛苦难以回避，你更要在它来时仔细端详“
看完Brave New World，我觉得这句话应该改为”正因为痛苦让幸福有了价值，你更要在它来时仔细端详。“
After all,happiness doesn't lie in happiness,but in the achievement of it. 作者: 幸福的 时间: 2013-9-11 04:23
“I am glad that I am a Beta. Alphas are too tired because they have to do lots of mental work. Gammas and Deltas are too silly. Betas are the happiest and the luckiest……”
You are in the fetus education room of the Brave New World, 2503. Before birth, all people here are divided into five hierarchies: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. They receive dream education to accept what they are made to believe and to be happy with it. They are made to loathe books and flowers, and love collectivity and purchase. You may find it crazy, but this brave new world gives what you actually crave for a lifetime---- Happiness. In this world where technology is immensely developed, you have enough to eat, enough to wear, enough health, enough sensation movies, and enough sex. Your brain is made to love what you do. By taking a Soma pill, all the stress would vanish, and you are taken to a beautiful fantasy.
However, all these are at the cost of discarding personality, family, art, history and even tragedy---- all this are crucial to the Freedom of humanity. You would not have your own values thoughts and opinions. You would not devotedly love another people and build your friendship. You would not know the truth of art and history---- and you would not even want to; all you crave for is simply another sensation movie. You can regard this as the most successful brainwash ever: based on superior technology and aimed at the absolute stability of the society, no one knows that she/he has been brainwashed; people in the brave new world even find them realized all the “freedom” they deserve.
Which world would you rather choose to live:
The world of Happiness, or the world of Freedom?
I have thrown this question to several people around me. According to my mother, she would be happy living in the brave new world, because everyone, to some extent, pursuit happiness and comfort. With all these in the new world, you are happy with who you are and what you do----in our contemporary society, too many people are unsatisfied with their lives and work. But when it comes to one of my teachers, the answer is opposite. He breaks the happiness fantasy by confirming that every human being, no matter in which corner of the world, has some way to obtain some message of freedom, and as soon as she/he got it, she/he would spare no effort to fight for freedom. You see, even North Korea has converters, and even the brave new world has people like John.
Personally, I tend to agree with the latter idea, but I still managed to figure out some possible reasons for those who believe in the former one, which may not be true:
People of the same age as my parents, had a tough childhood. Food and clothing were scarce, and there were political movements consequently. My mother’s biggest wish then was to find a job and earn money as early as possible, so that she and her family could have some meat to improve their living standards. When Deng Xiaoping came out with the idea of Reform and Opening Up, the strong desire for a better materialistic life and a stable society prevailed over other demands. Then came the slogan of “Stability overrides everything” and the bloody military suppression 24 years ago. Seeing their peers dying on the square simply for the demand of freedom and democracy, they would pay no more attention to their ballots---- They have too much bread to earn.
As far as I can see, the 1960s and 1970s in Mainland China were like what was written in <1984>, while the years after 1989 were like the Brave New World. After reading articles and posts about democracy all day, I went to the nearby supermarket, indulging myself into countless items and choices, and persuading myself that what you were worrying about are completely nonsense. This is the real world we live in: As long as you transfer some of your crucial freedoms such as the freedom of speech and independent thinking, you can have the “freedom” of fully entertain yourself. Nevertheless, this is not the Brave New World after all. As long as you are unwilling to fight for your rights you deserve, millions of children of your motherland would suffer from the loss of freedom---- even happiness.
Freedom and happiness, is never an either-or. Those who value happiness over freedom would get neither; while those who value freedom over happiness would get both. Be thankful for all the mischief, for they remind you of the value of happiness and freedom. 作者: stm 时间: 2013-9-11 05:06
曾经有幸参加过一次读书会，主题乔治奥威尔，不外乎是谈《动物庄园》与《1984》。当时在场的更多人是更喜欢《动物庄园》，而我对那本书却没什么很深刻的感觉，只很喜欢《1984》。当然《1984》也是有不少讨论的，一片引申，而我却只在旁听与发呆，基本没有发言。只是现在回想起来，讨论《1984》竟然没人提到《美丽新世界》，实在是很值得诧异的一件事情。而我的确是想到过讲讲《美丽新世界》的，结果却给忘掉了，只略说了几句对《1984》的看法，也迅疾被淹没在别人的发言里了。现在仍记得那天确实听到了不少不同的人很有意思的观点，而且以后大约也不会再有机会去参加那个活动了，那应该于我是很值得怀念的一天，虽然而今实际上已经记不得具体是哪天了。