Last night I managed to complete reading the wonderful book Brave New World and on the second to last chapter
I found a quote that significantly stood out to me. During John and
Mustapha Mond's discussion of why citizens corresponding to London's society
are taken away their right to believe in their own beliefs, the savage asks,
"But isn't it natural to feel there's a God?" Mustapha Mond
then responds with, "...As if one believes anything by instinct! One
believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them... People believe in God because they've been
conditioned to believe in God."
No
matter what time, place, or surrounding, I will always believe in the truth
this quote reflects. Often not even concerning religious views, people
are instinctively going to have faith in what they are grown to believe until
otherwise shown differently. For example,
across the world there are many cultures people identify themselves with and
are raised on a diverse scale in contrast to everyone else. Each of the
cultures' citizens are raised to live based on what their customs suggest is
right and what morals are expected of them.
In addition, numerous
people are raised to believe things that their sub conscience develops to
disagree with, especially in today’s urban society where young adults begin to
form opinions about the real world early on.
Hi Valerie. I can sense you grappling with a truth, but I am left wondering what you are referring to.
ReplyDeleteHere's what you say: "For example, across the world there are many cultures people identify themselves with and are raised on a diverse scale in contrast to everyone else. Each of the cultures' citizens are raised to live based on what their customs suggest is right and what morals are expected of them."
So, when I see that, I squint my eyes and wonder, "what is she thinking about?" This makes me think of the big wars raging right now on our planet, in Gaza, in the Ukraine. Are you thinking of that? Or what, exactly?
So, as your reader, I am sitting here with this big question mark in my head, and I go on to read:
"In addition, numerous people are raised to believe things that their sub conscience develops to disagree with, especially in today’s urban society where young adults begin to form opinions about the real world early on."
I then conclude, no, she's not thinking about how the beliefs you are raised with can lead to war, violence, death of children, of brothers and sisters, parents, lovers, friends. She's thinking about young adults in urban society. And again, I think, "what does she mean?"
I am responding to you as your writing teacher. There is something going on here that is interesting enough to think about, but I can't figure it out and I feel frustrated. Your job as a writer is to fill in those gaps as you go. Specific examples are a virtue.
Think about how every time Postman put out this big fat abstract idea, he immediately followed up with concrete examples that help us, as readers, APPLY and think about those abstract ideas in actual practice.
Carry on. Keep reading and thinking.
Hello! As I was writing about the cultures people identify themselves with I was actually thinking about the wars occurring around the globe such as in Gaza and the Ukraine. These people have no choice of what religion or ethnicity they would be born into and yet they are being stripped of their basic human rights. Although, at the same time I wanted to include something coming from a smaller scale such as the "rebellion" many teenagers are common to experience. This usually includes not wanting to follow their parent’s footsteps in believing a religion or custom they were grown to believe. The way I see these examples tied into Mustapha Mond's quote is because all in all, religion actually should be up to one's pick of whether or not to have faith.
DeleteI think, unintentionally, your last statement kind of contradicted Mustapha Mond's quote. If, when you talk about young adults forming opinions of this world, you are referring to our tendency to question every popular belief presented to us, then wouldn't that cancel out believing in something because we are "conditioned to believe" in it?
ReplyDeleteReligion is an excellent example of these ideas. But, because I am religious myself, I've heard stories of missionaries or evangelists giving children of foreign countries who haven't even stumbled upon the concept of religion an open invitation to their beliefs for the first time. These children each, without their underprivileged or privileged society or cultured impression affecting their decision in the slightest, either accept the religion wholeheartedly or simply shrug it off and say no thanks. That is a perfect example of believing in something because they truly believe in it, and for those children, they haven't really been conditioned to believe in anything regarding spirituality.
I do agree that there are some cases where we are conditioned to believe in something, but we each have that one curious voice in the back of our minds telling us to question it, and if it's something almost everybody believes in, that voice will only ring louder. We each have a mind of our own, and can ultimately choose whether we want to listen to our doubtful and questioning sub conscience or not. Besides, I just did, I heard a voice in my mind disagreeing with Mond's clever quote and decided to expand on it!