Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' explores a dystopian society governed by a totalitarian regime that utilizes technology for control, stripping individuals of individuality and authentic relationships. The narrative follows characters Lenina and Bernard as they encounter the contrasting savage reservation, leading to a conflict when they bring back a savage named John. The document also discusses the future potential of technology in various fields, including medicine, robotics, and communication, illustrating advancements like AI diagnostics and driverless cars.

1. Brave New WorldEamon O’Brien Dimitri Haber Gerard SimChad Nevin Michael Hefner

2. A Brief OverviewAldous Huxley’s fifth novel (1932)

3. Huxley was fascinated with science and had a knack for satirical pieces

4. His partial blindness influenced his writing

5. Setting: English dystopian society controlled by a totalitarian government by means of technology

6. Overall theme: the negatives implications of technology World StateThe World State is the form of government that governs just about the entire earth

7. 10 World Controllers; Mustapha Mond

8. Motto: “Community, Identity, Stability”

9. Its calendar starts at the year 1908 as it was the first year that Henry Ford’s Model T was produced

10. Religion has been wiped out and people replaced Ford’s name with the Lord’s; ex. “Our Ford”Castes and Reproduction People in this society are not born sexually, but rather, asexually in the Central London Hatching Center; “Parents” = bad word

11. Bokanovsky and Podsnap Processes

12. These processes can produce identical embryos

13. Each embryo is conditioned to belong to a certain caste in society

14. Alpha,Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon

15. Alpha is the highest, while Epsilon is lowest

16. Remedial jobs for Epsilons, higher level jobs for Alphas, etc. ConditioningConditioning Practices

17. Hypnopaedia: sleep teaching that gets adages engrained in citizens’ minds and morals

18. Sexual Play: meant to eliminate relationships and instead make sex out to be a mere activity

19. Pavlovian Conditioning: an electric shock is associated with books or flowers

20. Ideals of Society

21. No questioning; just doing

22. Hedonistic lifestyles; sex, feelies, etc.

23. “Everyone belongs to everyone else”Hedonistic LifestyleActivities

24. Sex: citizens “have” others constantly, often for only a couple of weeks

25. Feelies: “4-D” movies that allow the viewer to feel

26. Savage Reservations: a coveted destination is the Savage Reservation, which houses “uncivilized” people

27. Soma: a drug that relieves citizens of pain, worry, etc.; “a gram is better than a damn”

28. Solidarity Services: a cup of soma is passed around at a table and the drinkers claim that the “Greater Being” is coming; ends in an orgyPlot SummaryLenina and Bernard Marx

29. Lenina accompanies Bernard Marx on a trip to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico

30. Everyone on the reservation is aged and ill, in contrast to the World State where chemicals have been developed to eliminate aging

31. John is a resident of the reservation and was raised by a woman named Linda, who was the woman that the director of the CLH took 20 years prior

32. Bernard gets permission to take John and Linda to the “New World”

33. Bernard is threatened by the director of CLH to be exiled to Iceland for his “odd” behaviorPlot Summary (Cont.)Bernarnd turns the tables on the director by introducing him to his child and calling him a father

34. Lenina becomes fascinated by the Savage, John, and attempts to seduce him; John is disgusted

35. Linda, after returning from the Reservation, goes on a “soma” holiday and ends up dying because of an overdose of soma

36. John starts a riot after disrupting a soma distribution; results in his arrest along with Bernard, and Hemholtz

37. Bernarnd and Hemholtz are exiled, while John moves into a lighthouse

38. John is watched by citizens and later engages in an orgy; he hangs himself out of humilityCharacter ListJohn: a savage from the Reservation who found himself alienated there and in the New World

39. Bernarnd Marx: an Alpha with the phenotype of a lower caste; finds himself alienated because of this; enjoys popularity for bringing John to World State

40. Hemholtz Watson: an Alpha teacher who “thinks too much”; dislikes the World State like Bernard ; writer

41. LeninaCrowne: dates Foster, Marx, and is attracted to John; her morals reflect those of the typical citizen

42. Mustapha Mond: the World Controller of W. Europe; used to be interested in arts, books, etc. but gave it up for stability

43. Linda: John’s mother who used to live in the World State but was left on a Savage Reservation by The Director; ends up overdosing on somaWarnings Dangers of Government

44. The government of BNW does not use force or torture to enforce its values, but instead resorts to technology

45. Government uses positive reinforcement and keeps its citizens in a state of “happiness”

46. A mix of capitalism and communism

47. Dangers of Technology

48. Technology allows the government to control nearly every aspect of societyMain Points to Leave With Dystopian Society

49. Government controls every faucet of life

50. Citizens think they are in a Utopia, but they are not

51. Hedonistic Society

52. Citizens merely think about pleasing themselves

53. Sex, feelies, etc.

54. No one thinks in the society, but merely “does”

55. Alienation

56. Those who do question the World State are alienated and eventually are exiled

57. In short, you would NOT want to live hereThe Future of Computer Technology“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.”-Jules Verne

58. Computers in Workplace Computers will become common in hospitals

59. Trained doctors would be hard to replace, but computers will help with diagnoses

60. Computers can access trillions of data instantaneously, which would allow for easier diagnoses

61. 20% of medical errors are diagnosis errors, computers would help eliminate those

62. IBM’s Watson computer premiered on Jeopardy showcasing its knowledge and is now experimenting with hospital situationsComputers in Workplace (Cont.) Expert Testimonies

63. “My medical students and residents leave, but Watson would stay with me. All the knowledge will be preserved, and Watson will get smarter and smarter.”

64. Marvin Minsky, an artificial intelligence pioneer

65. http://kempton.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/ibms-watson-jeopardy-champ-planets-health-and-everything-expert-consultant/

66. “Computers are more reliable than humans are--they do not get sick--and are more productive--they can do the work faster and more effectively.”

67. Eric Roberts, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford

68. http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs201/projects/changing-nature-of-work/theory.htmlRobots Will Fight Wars P.W. Singer contends in his book, Wired for War, that the U.S. military will be half robots in a few yrs.

69. “Rapid development of military robots, already used as drones and bomb defusers, might mean that U.S. combat units would be half human, half machine by 2015” – Singer

70. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489226,00.html#ixzz1NL4OyvfbRobots at HomeBritish scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the U.K., Kevin Warwick, predicts that cyborgs (robots with brains) will be on hand to assist with domestic duties

71. “We’re not talking about taking a human brain out of a body but we can grow a brain from human cells and put it in a robot body, making it a lot more … helpful around the house, I would say that’s seven or ten years down the line.”

72. http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/844429-professor-believes-robots-will-occupy-every-home-in-10-years#ixzz1NL6FfDo3Advanced Step in Innovative MObilityASIMO is a humanoid robot developed by Honda

73. Abilities

74. Moving objects, postures and gestures, facial recognition, etc.

75. Currently only about 100 ASIMOs exist

76. “Our dream is that one day everyone will have an ASIMO of their own to help around the home or office.” – Honda

77. Professor Kevin Warwick predicts that everyone will own some form of a robot within the next decadeBrain Machine Interface (BMI)A BMI is essentially a way for the brain to communicate with a device

78. Possible applications range from turning on TVs by merely thinking to controlling devices entirely by thinking and no movement

79. Similar to movies like Avatar, humans will be able to have their own “avatar” or robot-selfHologramsCommunication

80. CNN has already premiered its try at the technology

81. Holograms will be the main form of communication and graphic display

82. Companies like airports will also use them to inform passengers

83. One UK Airport has had “digital illusions that are so convincing that passengers have been spotted trying to present passports to them”

84. http://www.newser.com/story/110839/holograms-will-greet-travellers-at-uk-airport.htmlCNN Hologram: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg

85. Contact Lenses of the FutureMini-Computers

86. The University of Michigan has recently created the world's smallest computer: a millimeter (image to the right)

87. Such a computer will lead to, as MichioKaku predicts, computers that are in contacts worn by human beings

88. BabakParviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, has already combined soft contacts with electrical circuits

89. http://dailyuw.com/2008/1/31/contact-lenses-of-the-future/Cars of the FutureDriverless Cars

90. A driverless car is a car that has an autopilot computer system and thus, there is no need for a driver

91. General Motors has announced that it plans to release a driverless car by 2018

92. GM has successfully tested the vehicle to the right; however, it is quite bulky

93. In the future, driverless cars will be smaller; just as how cell phones have evolved over timeA Computerized HomeComputers will be everywhere, but nowhere at the same time

94. “The future computer will be a lot more embedded into the environment instead of something that you can identify. Whenever you are in your house you’ll be able to ask for something, and whatever wall or counter you’re near, that information will just be projected onto it.” –Bill Gates

95. Actual computers/desktops will be a thing of the past and instead be integrated into nearly every aspect of lifeTHE END