rainy day
Rain...cuddles and book reading...mmmm. Too bad I have to go to my internship. Reading Brave New World for scifi and alternately thinking the world is creepy and horrible and that it could be nice. What would it be like to not have close relationships like mother and father? to go around having sex with whomever because "everyone belongs to everyone." It makes me think of a story I read in high school where the main character lived in a world in which sex and the body were shared with everyone while thoughts of the mind were shared only with one other special person. Being intimate meant having long involved conversations, the deviant were those who wanted to share their thoughts with more than one person. If I weren't allowed to share my thoughts, I think I'd go insane. But, in a way the mind is more individual and private than the flesh. Why such a taboo against sharing bodies when we are encouraged to share thoughts. Although in this day and age, sharing of thoughts is even becoming difficult. Censorship, watch what you say for fear of being declared a deviant traitor. But, back to the book. I'm at a section that is getting to the root of the problem between knowledge and happiness:
"Acutal happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." 221
The book also works with the idea of having everyone equal intellectually and ability wise. Basically comes to the conclusion that if we were all equally intelligent, noone would want to do the menial jobs, nothing would work properly. Can we escape classes? I'd like to think so, but getting people to do certain jobs would be difficult. We could always give them to the robots...but that raises a whole new host of questions.
"Acutal happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." 221
The book also works with the idea of having everyone equal intellectually and ability wise. Basically comes to the conclusion that if we were all equally intelligent, noone would want to do the menial jobs, nothing would work properly. Can we escape classes? I'd like to think so, but getting people to do certain jobs would be difficult. We could always give them to the robots...but that raises a whole new host of questions.