Operant Conditioning In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
B.F. Skinner’s relation to dystopian literature is best reflected in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In Brave New World, people are conditioned from a young age to adhere to the standards set by the world state. Skinners theory of operant conditioning is seen at play when children are given treats upon discovering the death of a peer; by being rewarded—or, positively reinforced—at the sight of death, they begin to associate death with something positive, and on the whole view death as a good thing. Operant conditioning is also seen being used to dissuade children from certain things, such as when Delta class children are briefly electrocuted upon interacting with flowers and books; this negative reinforcement dissuades the low-class
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His book, Walden Two, compared to Brave New World demonstrates perfectly the relationship between individual perspective and what defines a dystopia versus a utopia. Walden Two and Brave New World are both uncannily similar in their portrayal of the future; a world dictated by conditioning children to produce an ideal society, but where Skinner saw this as something great, Huxley saw the complete opposite. Huxley believed that a world in which children are conditioned in such a manner was a world devoid of personal freedom, and consequentially a world without meaning. This idea horrified Huxley, as he believed that people were becoming too concerned with achieving happiness rather than achieving true self-actualization. Skinner told of a virtually identical society, but portrayed it as a utopia rather than a dystopia. People were truly equal and happy, and the world was industrious. In Skinner’s opinion, conditioning is inevitable; the only difference between real life compared to Walden Two is that the conditioning is controlled to make sure people are conditioned in a beneficial manner. Both Skinner and Huxley portray essentially the same world, but portray it in a different light, and truly that is the nature of dystopian and utopian literature; perspective. Where one can see a world without substance another can see a veritable paradise. Dystopia can only truly be recognized if
His book, Walden Two, compared to Brave New World demonstrates perfectly the relationship between individual perspective and what defines a dystopia versus a utopia. Walden Two and Brave New World are both uncannily similar in their portrayal of the future; a world dictated by conditioning children to produce an ideal society, but where Skinner saw this as something great, Huxley saw the complete opposite. Huxley believed that a world in which children are conditioned in such a manner was a world devoid of personal freedom, and consequentially a world without meaning. This idea horrified Huxley, as he believed that people were becoming too concerned with achieving happiness rather than achieving true self-actualization. Skinner told of a virtually identical society, but portrayed it as a utopia rather than a dystopia. People were truly equal and happy, and the world was industrious. In Skinner’s opinion, conditioning is inevitable; the only difference between real life compared to Walden Two is that the conditioning is controlled to make sure people are conditioned in a beneficial manner. Both Skinner and Huxley portray essentially the same world, but portray it in a different light, and truly that is the nature of dystopian and utopian literature; perspective. Where one can see a world without substance another can see a veritable paradise. Dystopia can only truly be recognized if