Essay Concerning Brave New World :: essays research papers

The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, presents the portrait of a superficial utopian society. Huxley presents his utopia as a perfectly functioning society, but makes the reader question many aspects of the new civilization. While engaged in the book, a reader is often appalled by the lifestyles of the residents of "brave new world." When a reader does this he or she is comparing the society to his or her own. The only way a person can justifiably criticize the society in Brave New World is from their own subjective vantage point. It was the anthropologist Geertz who said that a culture cannot be examined completely objectively. So when a person critiques a society it is based on the values and mores of their own culture, and this is what I will do when considering what is objectionable and what is acceptable in the "brave new world" society. Huxley wrote the book primarily as a satire that would lead to change. In 1932, changes in science were becoming prevalent and Huxley noticed these changes. With the invention of the assembly line, the Ford Model Twas produced allowing people to afford cars. Huxley could see where these advances in science were leading, and this lead him to develop his startling story. When a person thinks of a utopia he or she thinks of a place where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger and sadness are unheard of. Huxley created a society where all of these are true, and still one questions whether or not it is truly a utopia. As people in our society look upon "brave new world" they see it as a place of immoral behavior and obscenity. Could this possibly be because they are conditioned themselves, and cannot realize it? They could just as easily be conditioned into thinking that only their thoughts are correct. Everyone's goal in every culture is to reach a state of ultimate happiness. The society of "brave new world" is the same, but they go about it in a much different way. People argue that the society of "brave new world" is immoral, and evil, but once again they are enforcing mores of their own society while examining other culture. Because the only way to critique the society of "brave new world" is subjectively from our own point of view, almost every aspect of the society is objectionable.

MBIT: What is self-awareness? Essay

Self awareness represents an understanding of our personality or the self. It includes the understanding and discovery of one’s strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Others include understanding our attitudes, values and beliefs. Self-awareness denotes our consciousness and recognition of our self history (Smith, 2008). This means that we understand that we are the same person over time and that we can identify thoughts and actions that we ourselves do. Self awareness is directly related to our ability to communicate. Self awareness is actually developed during our communication with ourselves and others. It is during communication that we learn about what others think about us and what reactions and significance we are likely to cause during communication. The Barnlund’s model illustrates two types of communication: the intrapersonal and the interpersonal communication (Smith, 2005). Intrapersonal communication which is communication with one’s self helps to bring out our innermost qualities through our perceptions, evaluations, inferences, ideas, evaluations and memories. Interpersonal communication which refers to communication with others helps us to understand other people and at the same time discover our strengths and weaknesses. It is only through self-awareness that we can be able to communicate effectively. Self awareness is what enables us to be more strategic in our communication practices. According to Smith (2005), it is only when we understand ourselves that we can be able to gauge and control how we communicate. Understanding others is also essential in our communication and this can only be achieved if we understand ourselves first. For example, a person who does not have self awareness is likely to face challenges when communicating with other people because he is likely to misinterpret other people’s responses to his or her messages. If we do not interact with others and learn our strengths and weaknesses and the contradictions that exist between individuals we may not be able to change our communication behaviors to better express ourselves (Smith, 2005). I have come to realize that my personality may not always allow me to get along with everyone. I am ESFJ according to the MBIT personality tool. I am slightly expressed extravert, slightly expressed sensing, moderately expressed feeling and slightly expressed judging. Since I have more of an average personality, I would have difficulties dealing with aggressive personalities such as the ENTJs. ENTJs will tend to have difficulty seeing things from other people’s perspectives and more likely than not they get impatient whenever others do not see things their way. Better communication with such kind of people would call for proper understanding of their personality and then trying to solve any kind of misunderstanding by expressing my point of view to them. I am slightly expressed extravert which means that I draw energy from action. I prefer processing information through conversing and idleness or inactivity tends to lower my motivation. I am likely to work with introverts who may not be as energetic and who prefer to reflect before acting. I may find that I cannot easily communicate or brainstorm with these kind of people in order to come up with ideas. To deal with this, I would have to be more patient with these people’s personalities. It may mean giving my point of view and then giving them time to act on the idea before making a plausible solution. I tend to make decisions by empathizing with a situation, considering the people involved in the situation and taking a solution that brings greatest consensus. My feelings and personal values must be involved in making important decisions. At my work place, I may meet people who are Thinking (T) instead of feeling (F) as I am. These ones tend to make decisions based on what is reasonable and logical depending on the analysis of the situation. To better interact with these kinds of people, understanding of their personality is essential and sharing my ideas with them will make them understand me better. That way, we can effectively communicate and respect each others’ way of decision making. Word Count: 667 Reference Smith, T. R. (2005). MBIT: On the Path to Self Awareness. London: SAGE

Personal Statement Happiness And Humans Essay - 1447 Words

Happiness And Humans By Morgan D Dec 22, 2012 Copyright (c) 2012 Morgan D Having a sense of meaning and purpose to life can come from discovering our life purpose and living out our personal mission and vision. When we are living for a purpose, we can develop a greater sense of meaning for what happens in our life, and a positively correlated topic with this is religiosity. Having a spiritual or religious relationship seems to aid in the cultivation of purpose and meaning. Most of these variables are interrelated and build on one another, and they can be learnt and developed if we are willing to put in the time to grow in these areas . Happiness has also been shown to strengthen relationships. This may be important as it offers individuals stability. In a study of 222 college students, 10 percent of the happiest students measured differently from the remaining students in one primary way: they had a rich and fulfilling social life . They were also rated the highest on good relationships by their friends. Psychologist David Myers (2009, p. 52) indicates there are few stronger predictions of happiness than a close, nurturing, equitable, intimate, lifelong companionship with one s best friend. A 1990 study of 141 senior class photographs from the 1960 yearbook of Mills College examined the nature of smiles in the photos: genuine smiles, the so-called Duchene smile, versus a forced photo-smile. Researchers found that those whose smile was genuine are more likely to beShow MoreRelatedHappiness Is A Glass Half Empty By Oliver Burkeman939 Words   |  4 PagesAs human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. 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