Late Sir Ken Robinson

In the video lecture "Changing Education Paradigms," Sir Ken Robinson presents his view on modern education. He points out that education is too standardized, that academic ability is "making brilliant people think they are not". Robinson goes on to say that ADHD is not a medical epidemic. Rather, it is merely a result of standardized education. Like Brave New World, students are being given drugs to control their capacity to focus. Ritalin and soma are comparable because they are "anesthetizing" students.

Standardization has also created the conformity and standardization of the students. Schools' curriculum are divided into certain subjects and facilities; their standardized testing is producing students that are subject to conformity to this model of education. This is extremely similar to how the World Controllers of Brave New World "decant [their] babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future ... Directors of Hatcheries" (Huxley, 13).

The lecture also shows that in a study, 98% of a large group of children were deemed geniuses in divergent thinking. But as they aged, more of the subjects of the testing lost their genius level intellect of divergent thinking. This is because they were conditioned to think a certain way; they were educated. His evidence of conditioning children to conform with standardized information parallels what the general population of Brave New World believes. They are conditioned, starting at childhood to accept death and the caste system. By the time they are adults, they all live by the guidelines the World Controllers have laid for them. They only know promiscuity, happiness, and soma.

Brave New World Topic

Brave New World was much more interesting and entertaining than 1984 and The Tempest. I'm not completely sure what to write about, mostly because I don't have a clear idea about the prompt. Anyways, I think Brave New World illustrates the argument between totalitarianism and individual expression.

People in Huxley's book are prompted and conditioned to seek immediate satisfaction for their every little want. They are created artificially on assembly lines. Promiscuity is highly encouraged and the basic family structure is shunned from society. The World Controllers like Mustapha Mond prioritize economic stability and citizen productivity over individual humanity. To accomplish complete stability and productivity, people are kept happy by living by what are the complete opposite of today's morals. If they are still not content, the World State distributes soma to help them cope with life.

Two outside works that could work with Brave New World are 1984 and the video by Sir Ken Robinson.

1984 parallels Brave New World because of how the Party controls its populace. It does the opposite things with the same goal in mind. Big Brother keeps the people run down and tired as compared to the happy and satisfied citizens of Brave New World. They are controlled psychologically by Big Brother and the Inner Party's constant streaming of propaganda and hate. Sexuality is suppressed since it is a product of free expression. In Brave New World, the people are raised so they will live to seek happiness in its most primal form.

Robinson's "Changing Education Paradigms" shows the flaws of modern education and how it is made to streamline learning. He makes the point that "people are becoming educated", and are thinking too much in a linear form. He stresses that we need to restructure learning to encompass teaching about how children think, with divergent thinking, rather than instructing them about what to think.