Aldous Huxley ( 1894-1963) wrote Brave new world in 1932.This novel is about a society where science controls everything .Families ,fathers and mothers no longer exist .In fact,these words are horrible and embarrassing in Huxley 's world.Scientits create babies and divide them into different categories .Then they condition them to do one job. They teach them to like that job and to dislike everything else .The Alphas are the scientists ,so they are the most intelligent ; the Epsilons are le lowest category of workers ,so they are the least intelligent.
The following extract is about education in Brave new world . Some students , who are Alphas ,are visiting the centre where babies are conditioned .Their teacher ,the Director ,is explaining the history of sleep-teaching.
"Once upon a time ,there was a little boy called Reuben Rabinovitch . Reuben was the child of Polish-speaking parents . " The director interrupted himself ." You know what Polish is ,I suppose ? "
"A dead language ."
"Like French or German " added another student.
"And "Parent" ? "asked the director .
there was silence .Several of the boys blushed.
"Well ,the parents were the father and the mother . These " he said gravely " are unpleasant facts ;I know it
He returned to little Reuben .One night, his parents forgot to turn the radio off in his room . While the child was sleeping , a pogramme from London was broadcast .The next morning ; little Reuben woke up repeating word for word a long lecture by that curious old writer ,George Bernard Shaw. To Reuben 's parents , this lecture was , of course , perfectly incompréhensible and , imagining that their child had suddenly gone mad ; they sent for the doctor . He , fortunately , understood English ,and recognized the programme about Shaw . He realized the importance of what had happened ,and sent a letter to the medical press about it..
"The principle of sleep-teaching had been discovered"
Then the Director explains why you can't use this method of teaching to teach people science .
Tommy is asleep .a voice is speaking softly.
"The Nile is the longest river in Africa and the second in lenght off all the rivers of the globe..."
At breakfast the next morning, " Tommy,someone says," do you know which is the longest river in Africa ? " He shakes his head . " But don't you remember something that begins : The Nile is the ..."
"The -Nile-is-tje-longest-river-in- Africa-and-the-second-in-length-of-all-the-rivers-of-the-globe..." The words come rushing out.
"Well now ,which is the longest river in Africa ? "
"I don't know."
"But the Nile, Tommy;"
"The-Nile-is-the-longest-river-in-Africa-and-the-second..."
"Then which river is the longest ,Tommy ?"
Tommy bursts into tears. "I don't know."
The experiments were abandoned ,explained the Director.You can't learn a science unless you know what it's all about.
Then he explains that this method can be used to teach people what to think.They visit a dormitory to see an example of sleep-teaching.
"What's the lesson this afternoon ?" The director asked the nurse.
"Elementary Class Consciousness."
Eighty little boys and girls were sleeping.There was a whisper under every pillow. At the end of the room there was a loud-speaker . the Director walked up to it and pressed a switch.
"...all wear green. "said the soft but very distinct voice ,beginning in the middle of a sentence " and Delta children were khaki .Oh no , I don't want to play with Delta children .And Epsilons are worse .They're too stupid to be able to read or write . Besides ,they wear black ,which is such a horrible colour. I'm so glad I'm a Beta."
There was a pause ;then the voice began again .
"Alpha children wear grey.They work much harder than we do ,because they are so clever .I'm very glad I'm a Beta,because I don't work so hard .And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas . Gammas are stupid .they all wear green ,and Delta children wear khaki..."
"They'll have that repeated forty or fifty times more before they wake.then again on Thursday,and again on Saturday.A hundred and twenty times three times a week for thirty months . after wich they go on to a more advanced lesson .Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions . And not the child's mind only .the adult ' s mind too-all this life long . The mind that judges and desires and decides -made up of these suggestions . But all these suggestions are our suggestions ! " The Director almost shouted in triumph . " Suggestions from the State "
adapted from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Test : Right or wrong ? if wrong ,put it right.
-In Huxley's novel , Alphas are not as intelligent as Epsilons.
-People no longer speak French, German and Polish.
-The students thought that the word " parent " was funny.
-Reuben 's parents couldn't understand Shaw's lecture because they didn't speak English.
-The doctor didn't think that what had happened to Reuben was important.
-Tommy didn't understand what he learnt while he was sleeping.
-The Nile is the second longest river in Africa .
-When he was in the dormitory,the Director turned the loud-speaker off.
-The children who were sleeping in the dormitory were Betas.
-In Brave New World the States uses sleep-teaching to condition people.
Writing: Do you think that sleep-teaching is a good way to teach children?
A) Yes ,because it's easy to learn things / You can learn more / You never forget it / It costs less.
B) No, because you don't understand what you learn / You can't choose what you learn / It's dangerous because....
Would you like to live in Huxley's world ? Why ? Why not?
