Brave new world
Firstly, thanks so much everyone for taking the time to answer the question :)
Over the last week, I have been thinking about the same question during those long lonely walks back home. More in the lines of, if I am given a world where everything is perfect and where I will be completely shielded from pain and given all means to stay happy, would I want to live there? A land where I would be clinically programmed right from genesis to like what I ought to, and given what I will learn to like (and given lots of it), be provided a vocation where my aptitute exactly matches my expectation, where another choice is not even a stray thought. Where I am what I eventually disintegrate into - an amalgam of chemicals and man, my apothecary, the author of my destiny and not god. Where variety is a proof of human error and humanity, a vast identical herd on the scientific highway.
A land where pain is not glorified - neither as heroism (for there won't be a war or crisis), nor as sacrifice (for there would be no love) nor as piety (for there's no god). Where art is dissected into a set of physical sensations that one craves to feel and fed directly to the senses without subtlety or ambiguity of interpretation. A land where youth is eternal, death a decision and pain a frivolous indulgence. Where a human who loves his mother (the-one-who-cannot-be-named) is a savage and is beyond reason and home is where four sweaty souls weep and waste their lives together in pain.
After watching America take the path of mass production to manufacture cars and watching culture disintegrate itself in all forms of art and life, Aldous Huxley went back to paint this world as his image of future - where the american lifestyle would conquer the world and its ways and where people will finally vote for happiness as their final goal. That was 1939.
I would neither talk about the plot nor about the beautifully layered interpretations that the book offers. But that one question - What do you really want in life? Behind all that you wish to do, see, accomplish, understand and achieve - isn't that the bottom line? Happiness? Do I really want to live in the brave new world?
It must have about three in the morning. It was during an engaging conversation that ~D said (though not in the same words), "For a long time I was looking for happiness in my life and sorrow or failure irritated me and made me feel hopeless. Now, I look for contentment - I don't deny the existence of pain nor do I cloth it in a happy garb. I see it, feel it for what it is but realize it's just as an integral part of life as is happiness. I realized my life is complete when I see every outcome with this equanimity. Where things can go wrong, where I can afford to lose but understand that this is just another step, another moment lived (rather than extrapolated, analysed and wasted). I don't deny myself the pain. I feel it for its worth and wait till the next moment comes along"
And when you see him you realize he means it - he's seen life, loved and lost, gained and lost it again. He probably is not able to do it all the time. But this is what he believes in, he strives for.
I still don't have the answer to this question - deep down I know for a fact that pain and fear have helped me grow much more than happiness ever has; That I can't accept life and humanity as an eclectic and rather imperfect mixture of chemicals. I sincerely believe in god, good will and a higher purpose. To admit all I need in life is just happiness feels like shriveling my existence into an insignificant dot. But I am waiting to hear a voice ringing strong sans doubt.
PS: If you are interested, you don't have to buy it. You can find it here.
Over the last week, I have been thinking about the same question during those long lonely walks back home. More in the lines of, if I am given a world where everything is perfect and where I will be completely shielded from pain and given all means to stay happy, would I want to live there? A land where I would be clinically programmed right from genesis to like what I ought to, and given what I will learn to like (and given lots of it), be provided a vocation where my aptitute exactly matches my expectation, where another choice is not even a stray thought. Where I am what I eventually disintegrate into - an amalgam of chemicals and man, my apothecary, the author of my destiny and not god. Where variety is a proof of human error and humanity, a vast identical herd on the scientific highway.
A land where pain is not glorified - neither as heroism (for there won't be a war or crisis), nor as sacrifice (for there would be no love) nor as piety (for there's no god). Where art is dissected into a set of physical sensations that one craves to feel and fed directly to the senses without subtlety or ambiguity of interpretation. A land where youth is eternal, death a decision and pain a frivolous indulgence. Where a human who loves his mother (the-one-who-cannot-be-named) is a savage and is beyond reason and home is where four sweaty souls weep and waste their lives together in pain.
After watching America take the path of mass production to manufacture cars and watching culture disintegrate itself in all forms of art and life, Aldous Huxley went back to paint this world as his image of future - where the american lifestyle would conquer the world and its ways and where people will finally vote for happiness as their final goal. That was 1939.
I would neither talk about the plot nor about the beautifully layered interpretations that the book offers. But that one question - What do you really want in life? Behind all that you wish to do, see, accomplish, understand and achieve - isn't that the bottom line? Happiness? Do I really want to live in the brave new world?
It must have about three in the morning. It was during an engaging conversation that ~D said (though not in the same words), "For a long time I was looking for happiness in my life and sorrow or failure irritated me and made me feel hopeless. Now, I look for contentment - I don't deny the existence of pain nor do I cloth it in a happy garb. I see it, feel it for what it is but realize it's just as an integral part of life as is happiness. I realized my life is complete when I see every outcome with this equanimity. Where things can go wrong, where I can afford to lose but understand that this is just another step, another moment lived (rather than extrapolated, analysed and wasted). I don't deny myself the pain. I feel it for its worth and wait till the next moment comes along"
And when you see him you realize he means it - he's seen life, loved and lost, gained and lost it again. He probably is not able to do it all the time. But this is what he believes in, he strives for.
I still don't have the answer to this question - deep down I know for a fact that pain and fear have helped me grow much more than happiness ever has; That I can't accept life and humanity as an eclectic and rather imperfect mixture of chemicals. I sincerely believe in god, good will and a higher purpose. To admit all I need in life is just happiness feels like shriveling my existence into an insignificant dot. But I am waiting to hear a voice ringing strong sans doubt.
PS: If you are interested, you don't have to buy it. You can find it here.
posted by Rathish at 6:36 PM
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