I was still a teen when I read the book, but that wasn't really my take from it when I read it. We are still far away from genetically designing human babies. And you also overlooked the part about oppression/control via distractions such as drugs and entertainment.

[–] pillars_in_the_trees@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We are still far away from genetically designing human babies.

Actually we're not, it's just illegal.

[–] droans@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Iirc we have also removed genetic anomalies from fetuses, too.

[–] droans@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My takeaway from BNW was a warning against blindly embracing a society built only on good feelings and numbing anything that forces us to confront pain. The oppression was more or less a side effect of it.

Everyone in the upper classes were okay that lower classes were being oppressed because they all were just as happy thanks to Soma. The pain of the outsiders didn't mean anything because they "chose" to live like that.

Genetic engineering was just a plot device to explain how the classes were chosen.

[–] sab@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

The brilliant thing in Brave New World was that it didn't at any point make it obvious that people were miserable slaves - they could leave any time they wanted, and lived a life of bliss. Still, as a reader, you end up feeling like you'd rather take the place of the savage than any of the characters living in the hypercommercial utopia. At least that's how I felt.

[–] papalonian@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I haven't read it in a while, but I kind of took the genetic engineering as a metaphor for being forced into the role/ class the ruling body wants you to be in

[–] bermuda@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Gattaca is a good movie about that

[–] FaceDeer@kbin.social -1 points 1 year ago

Well that just makes it even less useful as a realistic "cautionary tale", if the technology is just a metaphor.