debka_notion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
debka_notion) wrote2005-02-11 10:14 am
debka_notion) wrote2005-02-11 10:14 am
Brave New World Essay
On request from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jessebeller. FOlks, do please remember that I wrote this 3 years ago, and have not edited it since (or even reread it in quite a while).
“‘Anyhow,’ he concluded, ‘there’s one thing we can be certain of: whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now.’ ‘Yes, everybody’s happy now,’ echoed Lenina.” –Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
I first encountered Brave New World the summer after my freshman year of high school, and was immediately struck by how unhappy such apparently contented people could be. Soon after, a friend of mine, when asked what he wanted out of life, wished that he could always be happy. This craving for constant happiness alarmed me. In thinking it over, I began wondering if life really would be better if we were all perpetually happy.
As time went on, I found that my instinctive distaste for this idea had its foundation in my general worldview. I couldn’t see how anyone can appreciate happiness if he had never been unhappy. To my mind, happiness is a relative term; one cannot be absolutely happy or absolutely sad. Even when times are at their worst, we can stop to laugh at a bad pun or smile at a baby. If everyone were constantly happy, it would not be appreciated. Without the knowledge of misery, simple enjoyment could not be appreciated because there would be nothing worse. There is a range of happiness. I do not advocate self-torture for the sake of making everything else seem pleasant in comparison; that is going too far to the opposite extreme. Nevertheless, these thoughts ruin the idea of any sort of utopia for me.
It is a statement of the obvious that life can never be perfect, nor can it be perfectly happy. Nevertheless, I find it particularly important to remember when I am less than sanguine myself. Knowing that whatever unhappiness I am currently experiencing will only strengthen my happy memories in the future can make misfortune seem more bearable. Many of the times that I remember as having been extremely pleasant were the combination of exceedingly happy and quite disturbing events, when viewed on a moment to moment basis. I find that contrast is indeed the best way of gaining perspective. Being happy without ever being sad or angry or upset would make for a dull, unmemorable world. How then would life be worth living?
jessebeller. FOlks, do please remember that I wrote this 3 years ago, and have not edited it since (or even reread it in quite a while). “‘Anyhow,’ he concluded, ‘there’s one thing we can be certain of: whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now.’ ‘Yes, everybody’s happy now,’ echoed Lenina.” –Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
I first encountered Brave New World the summer after my freshman year of high school, and was immediately struck by how unhappy such apparently contented people could be. Soon after, a friend of mine, when asked what he wanted out of life, wished that he could always be happy. This craving for constant happiness alarmed me. In thinking it over, I began wondering if life really would be better if we were all perpetually happy.
As time went on, I found that my instinctive distaste for this idea had its foundation in my general worldview. I couldn’t see how anyone can appreciate happiness if he had never been unhappy. To my mind, happiness is a relative term; one cannot be absolutely happy or absolutely sad. Even when times are at their worst, we can stop to laugh at a bad pun or smile at a baby. If everyone were constantly happy, it would not be appreciated. Without the knowledge of misery, simple enjoyment could not be appreciated because there would be nothing worse. There is a range of happiness. I do not advocate self-torture for the sake of making everything else seem pleasant in comparison; that is going too far to the opposite extreme. Nevertheless, these thoughts ruin the idea of any sort of utopia for me.
It is a statement of the obvious that life can never be perfect, nor can it be perfectly happy. Nevertheless, I find it particularly important to remember when I am less than sanguine myself. Knowing that whatever unhappiness I am currently experiencing will only strengthen my happy memories in the future can make misfortune seem more bearable. Many of the times that I remember as having been extremely pleasant were the combination of exceedingly happy and quite disturbing events, when viewed on a moment to moment basis. I find that contrast is indeed the best way of gaining perspective. Being happy without ever being sad or angry or upset would make for a dull, unmemorable world. How then would life be worth living?
Re: Disagree
As I pointed out to debka_notion in a different thread, happiness and satisfaction are NOT the same. For example, during my sophormore year I took an advanced Judaics course in which I did not really have the time to do what was necessary to get an A (particularly considering what else I was taking at the time). I was not happy with the grade I got in the course, but I was satisfied with it, insofar as I knew that I did not have the time to do better than I did (and I took the course pass/fail for just that reason).
Someone with safety, food, shelter, security, friends, and all that, can be just as unhappy just from lacking self-actualization as someone who is unhappy from lack of security. In fact, it is often the latter, not the former, who decides to commit suicide.
I think you meant "the former, not the latter," but either way, I would point out that you have a statistical artifact in there, which is that people without security have a higher mortality rate.
Interesting points you make...
The Vortex