The World State
Encyclopedia
The World State is the primary setting of Aldous Huxley
's 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World
. In the novel, The World State is a unified government
which administers the entire planet, with a few isolated exceptions.
The motto of The World State is Community, Identity, Stability.
. According to the novel, the "Nine Years' War" broke out in Year 141 AF (2049 AD) of the Gregorian calendar. Very little is revealed of The Nine Years' War, but it can be inferred that the conflict broke out in Europe, affected most of the planet, and caused massive physical damage. It is repeatedly stated that chemical and biological weapons were heavily used during the war, particularly in mass air-raids against cities, similar to the portrayal of World War III
. Following the war, which seems to have petered out rather than been ended by a decisive victory, the global economy collapsed and created an unprecedented worldwide economic crisis. To deal with the two catastrophes of the Nine Years' War and the Great Economic Collapse, the new world leaders tried to forcibly impose their new ideologies on Earth's populations. This met with widespread resistance, including large-scale riots at Golders Green
and a massacre at the British Museum
. Realising that they could not force people to adopt the new lifestyle, the World Controllers instead united the planet into the One World State and began a peaceful campaign of change. This campaign included the closing of museums, the suppression of almost all literature published before 150 AF ('2058 AD'), and the destruction of the few historical world monuments that had survived the Nine Years' War. By the time the novel is set, The World State is fully established and almost all the people of Earth are citizens.
, Samoa
, and a small group of islands off the coast of New Guinea
. Toward the end of the novel, a conversation between John and Western Europe's World Controller, Mustapha Mond, reveals further details of the World State's political geography. Mond explains that certain areas which have very few resources or languish in unpleasant climates are not "civilised" by the government, as it would be uneconomical. Subsequently, these areas are left as reservations, and local life continues—albeit under constant surveillance by the World State. Small islands across the planet, such as the Falkland Islands
, Iceland
, and the Marquesas Islands
, are reserved for citizens of the World State who do not wish to live in, or do not fit into the normal society.
is controlled by Alphas and their subordinates, Betas. Below them, in descending order of intelligence and physique, are Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Each caste is further subdivided into Plus and Minus (with Epsilons having the additional classifications of regular or semi-moron), and are distinguished by colour-coded work clothes. Epsilons are dressed in black, Deltas in khaki, Gammas in leaf green, Betas in mulberry, and Alphas in grey. At the very pinnacle of society sit Alpha Double-Plus, who serve as the future scientists and top administrators of the world. Citizens in the World State of all castes are not born to a mother, but instead created in laboratories through a process of artificial insemination. They are then grown to 'birth' in bottles, the bottles being treated in a manner similar to a production line
. Fetuses are pre-determined to be born into specific caste and 'lower' castes such as Deltas or Epsilons are interfered with during development in order to restrict their mental and physical development (for example by adding alcohol to their bottle). People in different castes are conditioned to be happy in their own way; they do not feel resentment towards other castes, but rather feel a slight contempt for people not members of their own caste. At the same time, however, all members of society are repeatedly taught that everyone is equally important to society.
Citizens of the World State enjoy racial, social and economic harmony across the planet. Although England is seen to be mostly populated with Caucasians, the population also contains substantial ethnic proportions, and across the planet, people of different racial heritage live alongside one another in harmony. When visiting an electrical products factory in London, John witnesses Caucasians and black Senegalese working together. The only "feely" (see below) in the novel features a black antagonist with a white heroine. An official at the Central London Hatchery explains that Negro fetuses are slightly easier to grow than Caucasians or Asians. Although all the World State hatcheries attempt to refine the limits of the production process, the Mombassa hatchery is a few hundred ahead of the others in the number of embryos produced from a single ovary (London: 16,012, Singapore: approx 16,500, Mombassa: approx 17,000).
In addition to racial harmony, gender roles appear to have been eliminated in The World State. Both men and women are equals in society. However, a third pseudo-sex has been engineered: freemartin
s, a hermaphroditic
group of humans who appear to have been grown as females, but are sterile and exhibit traits of both the male and female sexes. While freemartins appear female, they exhibit some male characteristics, including the growth of facial hair
. The purpose of their creation is to allow citizens to engage in sexual intercourse for pleasure without the need for contraception.
Ageism
is a thing of the past in The World State. Biological engineering has eliminated the impact of old age upon the human body; using blood transfusion
s, chemical enhancements, and hormone replacement therapy
, as well as the standard devotion to physical sports, people maintain young, strong bodies for the duration of their lives, and do not exhibit any physical indications of old age, even appearing young when they eventually expire from natural causes. Without these physical signs, it is virtually impossible to gauge a person's age based on appearance, and as a result, ageism is non-existent.
An unspecified number of persons live as "savages" and non-citizens in reservations which figure in sections of the novel, since as noted the creation of the World State was accomplished peacefully as a consolidation of a post-apocalypse consumer society carried to the limit of conscious production of an irreversible division of labor.
and mass consumerism
. Citizens of the World State have access to a vast array of very high-quality foods, goods, and services, whilst the manufacture and provision of these goods and services creates jobs for all members of society. In order to enhance consumerism and so keep the economy strong, people are encouraged to throw away old or damaged possessions and buy new ones. In this way, every citizen of the World State is kept happy, with a plentiful supply of creature comforts and a permanent job. Later in the novel, World Controller Mustapha Mond explains that approximately one third of the global population is employed permanently in agricultural occupations, a surprisingly high proportion for such a high-tech, industrialised society, although this may have something to do with the fact that Huxley's world is limited in its mechanization and automation. This limitation is deliberately put in place in order to keep the populace busy working to produce new goods, with fears that increased free time and further technological advancements would lead to civil unrest and social instability. This was proven in an experiment in Ireland where all workers were placed on a 4 hour day, which led to unrest and increased consumption of soma.
is very popular, and makes use of the latest gadgets to enhance listening pleasure by adding light shows and pleasant aromas. Television
and "feelies" (see below) are widespread throughout the World State. Sport is a cornerstone of culture and is very popular, consisting of various bizarre games played using a bewildering array of high-tech gadgets, in order to keep factories busy. Games such as "Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy", "Riemann Surface
Tennis
", "Escalator
Squash
", and "Electro-Magnetic
Golf
" are major distractions for all levels of society, alongside more recognisable sports, including wrestling and swimming. Citizens of the World State enjoy many frequent holidays, and global travel allows people to journey across the planet for relaxation. Advertisements in Western Europe
are seen promoting holidays to "the gorgeous East
". One surprising holiday destination is a large (but apparently unimpressive) hotel complex at the North Pole
. It is possible that holidays to the moon
are available, but as such trips are only given one vague, passing reference in the novel, lunar recreation can neither be confirmed as a physical reality or dismissed as yet another hallucinogenic "holiday" brought on by soma.
s.
Transport technology is also highly advanced. The main form of urban transport is the helicopter
, with variations including "taxicopters" and expensive, long-range "sporticopters". For the lower castes, high-speed monorail
s are used to travel around the countryside. Global travel is conducted using rocket planes, which are colour-coded according to their destinations.
In the Hatcheries and Conditioning Centres, advanced technology is used in the creation of new embryos. In addition to high-tech laboratory equipment, the Hatcheries rely on machines to condition bottled embryos to heat, sudden motion, and disease, allowing the embryos to fulfill their predestined jobs in specific climates. Newly 'decanted' children in the Conditioning Centres are exposed to a variety of technologically advanced devices which help to mould them into their predetermined roles. In one early scene, Delta children are trained to hate the countryside and books through operant conditioning
involving klaxons and electrocution. Hypnopædia
is conducted using speakers built into the beds. The speakers themselves are fed by machines which convert printed material into softly spoken words.
Other aspects of life are greatly influenced by advanced technology. Most clothes are made from fine synthetic materials such as acetate
and viscose
. Architecture is dominated by "vitra-glass" and "ferroconcrete
" skyscraper
s. Men shave using electrolytic razors
and consume sex-hormone chewing gum
. Citizens can relax using "vibro-vac" massage
machines and the ever-present soma (the novel reveals that although this is ingested in tablet form, it can also be vaporised to form an anaesthetic cloud).
The novel repeatedly explains that the reason for such advanced technology is to keep workers busy manufacturing products. Interestingly though, the citizens of the World State could enjoy significantly better devices. In a conversation towards the end of the novel, World Controller Mustapha Mond explains to John that countless plans and designs for more advanced technologies already exist. The World State could, he explains, synthetically manufacture all of its food products and use highly efficient labour-saving machines. However, more advanced technology is not developed, as the World Controllers fear that high-tech machines would result in people having too much time on their hands. This, explains Mond, is not in the World State's best interests, following a previous experiment in Ireland
, which revealed that more advanced technology simply led to widespread boredom and increased use of soma. Although the citizens of Brave New World
enjoy apparently very advanced gadgets, they are unaware that human technology has in fact been limited artificially.
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
's 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
. In the novel, The World State is a unified government
World government
World government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
which administers the entire planet, with a few isolated exceptions.
The motto of The World State is Community, Identity, Stability.
History
The citizens of The World State use a calendar which takes the year 1908 AD ('0 AF' - 'After Ford') as its starting point, as this was the first year in which the Model T automobile was produced by the Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. According to the novel, the "Nine Years' War" broke out in Year 141 AF (2049 AD) of the Gregorian calendar. Very little is revealed of The Nine Years' War, but it can be inferred that the conflict broke out in Europe, affected most of the planet, and caused massive physical damage. It is repeatedly stated that chemical and biological weapons were heavily used during the war, particularly in mass air-raids against cities, similar to the portrayal of World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
. Following the war, which seems to have petered out rather than been ended by a decisive victory, the global economy collapsed and created an unprecedented worldwide economic crisis. To deal with the two catastrophes of the Nine Years' War and the Great Economic Collapse, the new world leaders tried to forcibly impose their new ideologies on Earth's populations. This met with widespread resistance, including large-scale riots at Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
and a massacre at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Realising that they could not force people to adopt the new lifestyle, the World Controllers instead united the planet into the One World State and began a peaceful campaign of change. This campaign included the closing of museums, the suppression of almost all literature published before 150 AF ('2058 AD'), and the destruction of the few historical world monuments that had survived the Nine Years' War. By the time the novel is set, The World State is fully established and almost all the people of Earth are citizens.
Political geography
At the time of the novel, the entire planet is united as The World State, governed by ten World Controllers, headquartered in various key cities. Prospective World Controllers are recruited from social outcasts who display unconventional thoughts. A few isolated areas have been left as "savage reservations", including parts of New MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, and a small group of islands off the coast of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. Toward the end of the novel, a conversation between John and Western Europe's World Controller, Mustapha Mond, reveals further details of the World State's political geography. Mond explains that certain areas which have very few resources or languish in unpleasant climates are not "civilised" by the government, as it would be uneconomical. Subsequently, these areas are left as reservations, and local life continues—albeit under constant surveillance by the World State. Small islands across the planet, such as the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and the Marquesas Islands
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands enana and Te Fenua `Enata , both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W...
, are reserved for citizens of the World State who do not wish to live in, or do not fit into the normal society.
Population
The two billion citizens of the World State constitute a eusocial consumer society whose individuals are produced in hatcheries by application of "Bokanovsky's" and other techniques to the hatchery line to produce the five classes or castes, α β, γ, δ and ε (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon, respectively). SocietySociety
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
is controlled by Alphas and their subordinates, Betas. Below them, in descending order of intelligence and physique, are Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Each caste is further subdivided into Plus and Minus (with Epsilons having the additional classifications of regular or semi-moron), and are distinguished by colour-coded work clothes. Epsilons are dressed in black, Deltas in khaki, Gammas in leaf green, Betas in mulberry, and Alphas in grey. At the very pinnacle of society sit Alpha Double-Plus, who serve as the future scientists and top administrators of the world. Citizens in the World State of all castes are not born to a mother, but instead created in laboratories through a process of artificial insemination. They are then grown to 'birth' in bottles, the bottles being treated in a manner similar to a production line
Production line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory whereby materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward consumption; or components are assembled to make a finished article....
. Fetuses are pre-determined to be born into specific caste and 'lower' castes such as Deltas or Epsilons are interfered with during development in order to restrict their mental and physical development (for example by adding alcohol to their bottle). People in different castes are conditioned to be happy in their own way; they do not feel resentment towards other castes, but rather feel a slight contempt for people not members of their own caste. At the same time, however, all members of society are repeatedly taught that everyone is equally important to society.
Citizens of the World State enjoy racial, social and economic harmony across the planet. Although England is seen to be mostly populated with Caucasians, the population also contains substantial ethnic proportions, and across the planet, people of different racial heritage live alongside one another in harmony. When visiting an electrical products factory in London, John witnesses Caucasians and black Senegalese working together. The only "feely" (see below) in the novel features a black antagonist with a white heroine. An official at the Central London Hatchery explains that Negro fetuses are slightly easier to grow than Caucasians or Asians. Although all the World State hatcheries attempt to refine the limits of the production process, the Mombassa hatchery is a few hundred ahead of the others in the number of embryos produced from a single ovary (London: 16,012, Singapore: approx 16,500, Mombassa: approx 17,000).
In addition to racial harmony, gender roles appear to have been eliminated in The World State. Both men and women are equals in society. However, a third pseudo-sex has been engineered: freemartin
Freemartin
A freemartin or free-martin is an infertile female mammal which has masculinized behavior and non-functioning ovaries. Genetically and externally the animal is female, but it is sterilized in the womb by hormones from a male twin, becoming an infertile partial intersex...
s, a hermaphroditic
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
group of humans who appear to have been grown as females, but are sterile and exhibit traits of both the male and female sexes. While freemartins appear female, they exhibit some male characteristics, including the growth of facial hair
Facial hair
Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic of human males. Men often start developing facial hair in the later years of puberty or adolescence, approximately between 17–20 years of age, and most do not finish developing a fully adult beard until their early 20s or even later...
. The purpose of their creation is to allow citizens to engage in sexual intercourse for pleasure without the need for contraception.
Ageism
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
is a thing of the past in The World State. Biological engineering has eliminated the impact of old age upon the human body; using blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
s, chemical enhancements, and hormone replacement therapy
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy, or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also referred to as hormonal therapy...
, as well as the standard devotion to physical sports, people maintain young, strong bodies for the duration of their lives, and do not exhibit any physical indications of old age, even appearing young when they eventually expire from natural causes. Without these physical signs, it is virtually impossible to gauge a person's age based on appearance, and as a result, ageism is non-existent.
An unspecified number of persons live as "savages" and non-citizens in reservations which figure in sections of the novel, since as noted the creation of the World State was accomplished peacefully as a consolidation of a post-apocalypse consumer society carried to the limit of conscious production of an irreversible division of labor.
Economy
The World State operates a command economy, in which prices, production, and trade are all regulated by the state. Furthermore, the economy is based on the principles of mass productionMass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
and mass consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
. Citizens of the World State have access to a vast array of very high-quality foods, goods, and services, whilst the manufacture and provision of these goods and services creates jobs for all members of society. In order to enhance consumerism and so keep the economy strong, people are encouraged to throw away old or damaged possessions and buy new ones. In this way, every citizen of the World State is kept happy, with a plentiful supply of creature comforts and a permanent job. Later in the novel, World Controller Mustapha Mond explains that approximately one third of the global population is employed permanently in agricultural occupations, a surprisingly high proportion for such a high-tech, industrialised society, although this may have something to do with the fact that Huxley's world is limited in its mechanization and automation. This limitation is deliberately put in place in order to keep the populace busy working to produce new goods, with fears that increased free time and further technological advancements would lead to civil unrest and social instability. This was proven in an experiment in Ireland where all workers were placed on a 4 hour day, which led to unrest and increased consumption of soma.
Culture
Culture in the World State is homogenous and appears to be fairly similar across the entire planet. MusicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
is very popular, and makes use of the latest gadgets to enhance listening pleasure by adding light shows and pleasant aromas. Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and "feelies" (see below) are widespread throughout the World State. Sport is a cornerstone of culture and is very popular, consisting of various bizarre games played using a bewildering array of high-tech gadgets, in order to keep factories busy. Games such as "Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy", "Riemann Surface
Riemann surface
In mathematics, particularly in complex analysis, a Riemann surface, first studied by and named after Bernhard Riemann, is a one-dimensional complex manifold. Riemann surfaces can be thought of as "deformed versions" of the complex plane: locally near every point they look like patches of the...
Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
", "Escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
Squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
", and "Electro-Magnetic
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
" are major distractions for all levels of society, alongside more recognisable sports, including wrestling and swimming. Citizens of the World State enjoy many frequent holidays, and global travel allows people to journey across the planet for relaxation. Advertisements in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
are seen promoting holidays to "the gorgeous East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
". One surprising holiday destination is a large (but apparently unimpressive) hotel complex at the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. It is possible that holidays to the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
are available, but as such trips are only given one vague, passing reference in the novel, lunar recreation can neither be confirmed as a physical reality or dismissed as yet another hallucinogenic "holiday" brought on by soma.
Technology
Life in the World State in (After Ford) A.F. 632 is dominated by very advanced technology, which influences all aspects of life. Sport is a pillar of the World State, consisting of various games and activities which use very high-tech equipment. Another key aspect of entertainment are the "feelies" – the World State's high-tech version of the then-current "talkies". In the later part of the novel, Lenina takes John to a feely, where the concept is explained. Users rest their hands on metal knobs protruding from the arms of their chair, allowing them to feel the physical sensations of the actors on-screen (usually in sexually-themed films). Various other high-tech entertainment devices feature heavily in the book, including Synthetic Music Boxes, Scent Organs (musical instruments which combine music with pleasant aromas), Colour Organs (combining music with a dazzling light show), and televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s.
Transport technology is also highly advanced. The main form of urban transport is the helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, with variations including "taxicopters" and expensive, long-range "sporticopters". For the lower castes, high-speed monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
s are used to travel around the countryside. Global travel is conducted using rocket planes, which are colour-coded according to their destinations.
In the Hatcheries and Conditioning Centres, advanced technology is used in the creation of new embryos. In addition to high-tech laboratory equipment, the Hatcheries rely on machines to condition bottled embryos to heat, sudden motion, and disease, allowing the embryos to fulfill their predestined jobs in specific climates. Newly 'decanted' children in the Conditioning Centres are exposed to a variety of technologically advanced devices which help to mould them into their predetermined roles. In one early scene, Delta children are trained to hate the countryside and books through operant conditioning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
involving klaxons and electrocution. Hypnopædia
Sleep-learning
Sleep-learning attempts to convey information to a sleeping person, typically by playing a sound recording to them while they sleep....
is conducted using speakers built into the beds. The speakers themselves are fed by machines which convert printed material into softly spoken words.
Other aspects of life are greatly influenced by advanced technology. Most clothes are made from fine synthetic materials such as acetate
Cellulose acetate
Cellulose acetate , first prepared in 1865, is the acetate ester of cellulose. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some adhesives, and as a frame material for eyeglasses; it is also used as a synthetic fiber and in the manufacture of cigarette filters and...
and viscose
Viscose
Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Viscose is becoming synonymous with rayon, a soft material commonly used in shirts, shorts, coats, jackets, and other outer wear.-Manufacture:...
. Architecture is dominated by "vitra-glass" and "ferroconcrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
" skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s. Men shave using electrolytic razors
Electrology
Electrology is the practice of electrical epilation to permanently remove human hair. The actual process of removing the hair is referred to as electrolysis.-Overview:...
and consume sex-hormone chewing gum
Chewing gum
Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...
. Citizens can relax using "vibro-vac" massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
machines and the ever-present soma (the novel reveals that although this is ingested in tablet form, it can also be vaporised to form an anaesthetic cloud).
The novel repeatedly explains that the reason for such advanced technology is to keep workers busy manufacturing products. Interestingly though, the citizens of the World State could enjoy significantly better devices. In a conversation towards the end of the novel, World Controller Mustapha Mond explains to John that countless plans and designs for more advanced technologies already exist. The World State could, he explains, synthetically manufacture all of its food products and use highly efficient labour-saving machines. However, more advanced technology is not developed, as the World Controllers fear that high-tech machines would result in people having too much time on their hands. This, explains Mond, is not in the World State's best interests, following a previous experiment in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, which revealed that more advanced technology simply led to widespread boredom and increased use of soma. Although the citizens of Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
enjoy apparently very advanced gadgets, they are unaware that human technology has in fact been limited artificially.