Sir Ken Robinson makes some interesting parallels to Brave New World. Firstly is the idea of medicating our children to the point of utter nothingness, in order for the child to become educated, as defined by society. Soma, in Brave New World, is like the Ritalin of today, but rather than being taken to learn, it is being taken to forget. Both of the process are done to keep the metaphorical machine of their own respective government and societies. The next point Robinson makes is the assembly line metaphor of taking these drugged kids and placing them with groups of students in their age group, to go and be educated, and be found out to the smart, or not so smart. The same way the people in Brave New World are conditioned in their predetermined group to be their respective role in life, to be a Alpha or Beta, Smart, or Delta, Epsilon, or Gamma, not so smart. Robinson is trying to show that our society today is looking at education in the wrong way. The way education is set up, is the same way brave new world is set up, disallowing for there to be any change in one’s life once your are put in your predetermined group. You are essentially doomed to the system. As you can see here, "The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offense is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior. Murder kills only the individual-and, after all, what is an individual?" As Huxley and Robinson are explaining this lack of individualism, in education for example, where your predetermined state is where the assembly line of life will take you. You are doomed to the system. My personal opinion of this video is seen with a little skepticism. Here are just some questions, if given the opportunity, I’d like to ask Sir Robinson. You describe each child as being, and learning differently, then what do you suggest we do to our system? Make a school for each individual child based on their needs? I’m not saying this idea isn’t a great. I just think that you are presenting a problem, and answering it in a vague, unsupported fashion that causes more confusion than solution.
Good stuff, Barrett. The questions that you ask at the end are very similar to my research question that I'm investigating for my thesis: How do new media platforms change the nature of literacy and knowledge production in the 21st century? Part of my investigation will involve answering your questions. Part of it, I think, is to allow for divergent solutions to problems, original interpretations, etc. Rather than the multiple choice model, which posits "one right answer." Anyhow, nice job.
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