Point Quote Comment

Words: Becky Driscoll

When Huxley picked up his pen in 1931, he was writing against the backdrop of temporary technological optimism: Britain had won the war, a golden age of radio broadcasting was underway, and automobiles, telephones and electric appliances had become the norm to ease day-to-day domestic tasks. Gone were the medieval days of tedious slog and struggle. Humanity had evolved to create a society that served their every need. Instantly.

And this has only grown since.

Despite this newfound luxury, Huxley possessed the precognition to carve through the utopian surface to uncover the grotesque and dystopian truth beneath. It turns out… we need struggle.

Through his seminal novel Brave New World, he exposed the harsh realities of a world where pleasure is instantaneous and readily available. Through the drug of soma, activity between the spinal cord and brain neurons was altered, providing a therapeutic and soothing effect on the taker: a temporary pleasure that could appease a society unable to deal with struggles and anxieties.

Huxley’s great philosophical work disturbingly foreshadows the world of social media and instant dopamine gratification that we have nurtured today.

In Chapter Seventeen of Brave New World, the Savage defiantly responds to Mustapha Mond (the most powerful and intelligent proponent of the World State):

But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.

In February 2024, BMW released terrifying footage of a humanoid work robot responding (with the ums and ahs of human dialogue), obeying the every word of its human master, acting as a slave to his every need. Humanity, it seems, will soon no longer need to complete menial tasks – robots will have it covered.

This extends to our own personal spheres in every way.

Want to buy something? Click – Amazon Prime will have it at your door by the next working day. Need a date? Swipe! Someone can meet you for a drink that evening. Feeling lonely? Ping! Those dopamine buzzes from social media notifications are on hand to hit the spot. Unhappy at work? Quit! There’s surely something better out there… Indeed!

This is happiness.

Except… as Huxley knew all along, it isn’t. Things bought are so much better hard earned. Love is a choice and commitment cultivated over time. Loneliness is something unsettling we need to endure from time to time – it’s uncomfortable and so it should be. It teaches us resilience, strength and determination. The Savage’s words appear all the more profound in a world where children’s attention spans are being eaten up by ‘Tik Tok brain’ and where rejection and its lessons have been clinically removed from the dating process by Tinder and Bumble (designed to keep business booming by keeping you on the apps).

Perhaps we could all heed and learn from the savage’s bid,

“I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”

As in true paradoxical form, it is unhappiness and the struggles in life that eventually bring true fulfilment.