Sunday, February 7, 2010

Decisions Decisions

In Chapter 16 of 'A Brave New World' Mustapha Mond tells of an experiment where people from the highest caste, Alphas, were put on an island with no other objective than to exist. The story says that "there were strikes in all the factories; the laws were set at naught, orders disobeyed; all the people detailed for a spell of low-grade work were perpetually intriguing for high grade jobs... within six years they were having a first-class civil war." In this book the Alphas were the symbol of people who were capable of making choices and questioning their role in the existence in society. With the Alphas not creating a society where free choice brings happiness, the morality of free will can justly be questioned.
Science is a base for choices to be made upon. With the knowledge that science provides, people are allowed to make more informed decisions. These decisions would intuitively seem to be for people's self interest. With so many informed decisions based on self interest, competition is created along with winners and losers. In 'A Brave New World' Mustapha Mond explains that to keep a world stable, new things must not be introduced to offset the world from its order. Science not only introduces new physical things but also concepts. In a world where everyone is satisfied, science has the ability to create discontent and suffering.
I take the side of the savage and science, that "being contented has none of the glamor of a good fight against misfortune." If there is no inherent meaning in the world, then let us create meaning by struggling for a greater existence. I prefer the highs and lows to a constant flow of mediocre interactions with the world. Science provides people the tools to use their free choice to create beauty and utilize variety. Without the possibility of self improvement and discovery it seems impossible to make the world a better place, taking away my view of human purpose. Science and free choice are crucial to living in a world in which meaning can be created, in turn giving humans purpose.
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1 comment:

  1. amandalavoieFebruary 8, 2010 at 5:32 PM

    I'm glad you wrote about this topic, as I myself am not quite sure which side of the line I solidly stand on when it comes to misery & creativity vs. stability and monotony.
    I can't help but wonder what it would be like to live in a sort of uneventful harmonious world, living a lifestyle that has room only for our animal instincts. My feelings do lean more toward having that fuller spectrum of experiences, from the hellish depths of depression to the exaltation of being in love. But can you imagine leading a visceral life? Can you imagine taking away the muddy merry-go-round of metaphysics and just living like a blood-n-bone animal? Man! I know I can't. But I try.
    This all leads back and around to "human purpose," and maybe because I haven't yet clearly defined that for me, I don't if I'm on the side of the Savage or of Mustapha Mond.

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