7 ms·

I'm pretty sure it is because of two reasons: 1. More people have read 1984 than have read Brave New World. 2. Brave New World is so ridiculously accurate tha

I'm pretty sure it is because of two reasons: 1. More people have read 1984 than have read Brave New World. 2. Brave New World is so ridiculously accurate that most people are too afraid to think about what this means. We fear 1984 while living (for the most part, the only real difference is that we don't have, or need, a direct controlling force) Brave New World.

widdershins 13y ago
Brave New World is a much more ambiguous dystopia. Many people could read it and say, "Hey, everyone's happy with their lot. They are conditioned to love their work and the entertainment's great. What's the problem?". That's a much more subtle kind of situation to grok.
- Djehngo 13y ago
  I remember struggling with this idea, I think my conclusion was that in brave new world people are given happiness but deprived of choice, understanding and meaning.
weinzierl 13y ago
"We fear *1984* while living *Brave New World*". -- run4yourlives % went straight to my fortune cookie quote file.
- chaostheory 13y ago
  It depends on the country. Sure most people in the West live in Brave New World, but in places like North Korea, those people are definitely living in 1984.
megablast 13y ago
1984 has world wide surveillance and control through the media. Can you not see why people are using these reasons to bring up 1984?
afterburner 13y ago
From what I remember, Brave New World centers largely around the use of drugs to regulate the populace, so while it might fit the debate with current day mood stabilizers, it's nowhere near as much about surveillance and a police state. It's like the opposite, regulation through conditioned happiness rather than suffocating oppression, with a similar loss of liberty. So the surveillance part resonates with PRISM.
- rplacd 13y ago
  A similar mismatch with 1984's also smoothed also as well, in my opinion: I found one of the most oddly salient features of that society was the absent (the "free"d) proletariat - even as far outnumbering those of perceived relevance as they might be. As it is they're still swept into our rhetoric: a far more interesting equivalence needs just a bit more time for the status quo to establish itself.
- stplsd 13y ago
  >Brave New World centers largely around the use of drugs to regulate the populace Drugs are NOT central theme in BNW it's just simply a metaphor. Super king burgers, reality TV, NFL, wrestling, facebook, MTV, in essence all pop culture is SOMA of nowadays "Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again. Here. Here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed, America. Here is American Gladiators. Here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their fucking skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go, America! You are free to do as we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!" Bill Hicks
  - rayiner 13y ago
    Ah, nothing like a PRISM article to bring out the nerds circle-jerking about how the stupid things they like are so much better and more important than the stupid things other people like.
    - eli_gottlieb 13y ago
__--__ 13y ago
Is there any reason we can't be living in both? They both lump everybody on the planet into one of two categories - rule through fear or rule through pleasure. Both are distractions that are equally effective, for different people. Some of us are living 1984 AND Brave New World, some just one or the other and some are living something else entirely.

widdershins 13y ago

Brave New World is a much more ambiguous dystopia. Many people could read it and say, "Hey, everyone's happy with their lot. They are conditioned to love their work and the entertainment's great. What's the problem?". That's a much more subtle kind of situation to grok.

Djehngo 13y ago
I remember struggling with this idea, I think my conclusion was that in brave new world people are given happiness but deprived of choice, understanding and meaning.

weinzierl 13y ago

"We fear *1984* while living *Brave New World*". -- run4yourlives % went straight to my fortune cookie quote file.

chaostheory 13y ago
It depends on the country. Sure most people in the West live in Brave New World, but in places like North Korea, those people are definitely living in 1984.

megablast 13y ago

1984 has world wide surveillance and control through the media. Can you not see why people are using these reasons to bring up 1984?

afterburner 13y ago

From what I remember, Brave New World centers largely around the use of drugs to regulate the populace, so while it might fit the debate with current day mood stabilizers, it's nowhere near as much about surveillance and a police state. It's like the opposite, regulation through conditioned happiness rather than suffocating oppression, with a similar loss of liberty. So the surveillance part resonates with PRISM.

rplacd 13y ago
A similar mismatch with 1984's also smoothed also as well, in my opinion: I found one of the most oddly salient features of that society was the absent (the "free"d) proletariat - even as far outnumbering those of perceived relevance as they might be. As it is they're still swept into our rhetoric: a far more interesting equivalence needs just a bit more time for the status quo to establish itself.
stplsd 13y ago
>Brave New World centers largely around the use of drugs to regulate the populace Drugs are NOT central theme in BNW it's just simply a metaphor. Super king burgers, reality TV, NFL, wrestling, facebook, MTV, in essence all pop culture is SOMA of nowadays "Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again. Here. Here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed, America. Here is American Gladiators. Here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their fucking skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go, America! You are free to do as we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!" Bill Hicks
- rayiner 13y ago
  Ah, nothing like a PRISM article to bring out the nerds circle-jerking about how the stupid things they like are so much better and more important than the stupid things other people like.
  - eli_gottlieb 13y ago

__--__ 13y ago

Is there any reason we can't be living in both? They both lump everybody on the planet into one of two categories - rule through fear or rule through pleasure. Both are distractions that are equally effective, for different people. Some of us are living 1984 AND Brave New World, some just one or the other and some are living something else entirely.