A Defence Of Paradise-Engineering
An exaggeration?
Tragically, no. Brave New World has come to serve as the false symbol for any regime ofuniversal happiness.
For sure, Huxley was writing a satirical piece of fiction, not scientific prophecy. Hence to treat his masterpiece as ill-conceived futurology rather than a work of great literature might seem to miss the point. Yet the knee-jerk response of "It's Brave New World!" to any blueprint for chemically-driven happiness has delayed research intoparadise-engineering for all sentient life.
So how does Huxley turn a future where we're all notionally happy into the archetypaldystopia? If it's technically feasible, what's wrong with using biotechnology to get rid of mental painaltogether?
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