Some great responses, though, it seems as though most of you are either unwilling or somehow unable to actually do the turnoff. Many of you are saying that you can and will do the turnoff partially–everything except the one or two things you most use–some of you even use the word “need.” It is all fascinating, and it provides useful data, no question, but I really want to encourage you to try and unplug, maybe just for one day, one afternoon even, from that one thing you most feel you “need.” BrockC1 raises a good point in his first comment about the generational difference in the use of these technologies. I think he said that the tech turnoff would be much easier for his parents than for him. I want to address that point in a future assignment. It reminds me of the Brave New World conditioning center. But I’ll let you read that terrific Chapter 17 first…
For now, let’s consider that equally terrific Chapter 15, where the Deltas attack John because he is throwing their daily dose of soma out the window, exclaiming as he does that he is bringing them freedom. Well, they obviously aren’t thanking him for it. Ha, great scene. OK, here’s the assignment:
Assignment #3: What do you think? Two questions: 1) Is John right to associate soma with incarceration? Why or why not? And 2) Are the media I have asked you to go without for one week–just one little week–comparable to soma? Again, why or why not?
Okay, my not-so-little Deltas–or are you Epsilons? Alphas?–whatever, come on, one day, one afternoon. Try to go without. See what happens. It’s an experiment. Or is it really like I am asking you to go without food or shelter or whatever Thoreau would call a necessary of life? One day. To all the rest of you who are successfully turned off, I am wondering what is changing about the way you spend your time, the way you interact with people, what people think about what you’re doing–but we’ll save all of this for a later assignment. Good luck, all of you, and keep up the great posts.
I think it is right for John to associate soma with incarceration. Soma basically controls every single person in the Brave New World. The people are confined to what they know and they’re controlled by a higher power. They can be compared to little walking zombies that are controlled and have no say in anything they do. They are no longer free to be anyone who they wanna be, they are picked and selected to be someone and cannot fend for themselves.
I believe that soma and our technologies are similar. People are so consumed in medial tacts that they lose focus of who they really are and what they can be. They surround our lives and become who we are. Without them, we can’t function or we feel like something is missing from our lives. They can make people happy and focused and ready to attack the day. If we didn’t have the we would be lost.
i think the soma does “incarcerate” the people it makes them “happy” all the time, no one is happy all the time and thats what makes life interesting. your feelings tell you what matters to you in life. soma incarcerates the people in false emotions.
Yes I do think John is right toassociate soma with incarceration because their dependability with the soma is a sense of imprisonment. They are trapped in a fake world and can’t get out of it because of how the soma makes them feel. Yes our media is comparable to soma because we constantly think about it and it does make me feel better. It’s an escape to go on facebook or text a friend. My media also does make me feel better just like soma would do. And if someone through my phone out the window I would be devastated.
1. John is right to assume that soma is a form of incarceration. The soma allows them to “escape” into their own little dream world. They are cut off from the real life that they are missing. They are confined to their dream world and never really get out. even when they are awake, they long for the soma and it consumes them. They always desire an increasing amount to achieve the same effect. This incarceration is not one with metal and cement. It is a mental handicap that is placed on the users willingly. They are trapped in their own ignorance.
2. I think only some of the technology is imprisoning. There is no doubt that certain things in our lives we tend to abuse and they become more of prison than a help. I see a strong correlation between t.v. and soma in that it allows us to escape our reality and enjoy what is virtual. I also believe that some things can be both beneficial and negative. Facebook is a good example of this because it allows information to be shared quickly and effectively. On the other hand, it can be a horrible time consumer if it’s abuse. In summation, I would argue that most of our technology is numbing and dulling. All of it will be negative if it used as a distraction and time waster.
John is right in a way because it seems like the more soma a person takes the less likely they would be to rebel against society like John is or to become an outcast. The soma is somewhat controlling because it calms down those rebels who get those ideas and it makes the nation as a whole happy. Today’s media does have some similar effects but honestly you cannot compare the two. The media does “brainwash” some people about some things, but none of those topics are life altering and the media cannot physically change how you feel like the soma does. It is not a drug that changes your mood.
1.) I think John is right to associate Soma with incarceration. Soma gives the user access to an alternate reality, an escape from there everyday life. Soma users can be related to habitual users of addictive drugs today. My second cousin is a meth head what started out as recreational use for enjoyment and “escape”has spawned into a NEED to use. She cannot go a day without using and will do anything to obtain it even though she has lost all her hair and most of her teeth are gone, she is basically controlled by the drug and for her there is no escape until maybe death
2.)its easy to compare Soma in the brave new World to television in the American society. Most Americans could deal with not watching TV temporarily but to imply they could never watch it again would start a riot, similar to the Delta’s. It is engrained in our society at this point it would be impossible to separate them. Phones are a little more severe people can barely give it up for more then an hour but yet again its what societies pushed us too with the fast paced lifestyles we live it seems impossible to not stay connected.
1) John was right for thinking that he was freeing them, for example soma was controlling their lives so much they attacked him for throwing it out. 2) no what you have asked us to go with out is nothing in comparison to soma. Media is something that as we get older we have more access too and we can survive with out for a week. Soma has been available to the society of “brave new world” at a never ending flow, they take one and another is waiting no matter the time. Both media and soma are highly addicting, but soma once taken controls you and imprisons you.
John is right to do that. It is the only thing in their world that makes them happy. The people in the Brave New World rely on the soma to make their day and their lifes easier. The media that is asked to go without is like soma. This is because they make our lifes easier and it makes us happy. We can’t live our lives without some influnce of technology. This is like the people of the Brave New World having to rely on soma.
I believe John is completely correct by associating soma with incarceration. The people of the ‘brave’ new world think it is necessary for life, and just by mentioning that they will not receive the soma, they want to kill John, almost as if he is taking from them food or water. Soma is comparable to the technologies in a way because we use the technologies as an escape, and soma allows the users to go on an entire ‘holiday’. Our technologies may be just a step down from soma, but if given the chance to go on a ‘holiday’ away from reality, I would say that most modern Americans would kill for the chance. Mostly because a lot of people can’t handle the reality put in front of them.
1. I believe John is right in his association of soma with incarceration. The soma lets everyone slip into a dreamworld and away from their life. In times of boredom or when they are feeling sad/mad they take soma rather than living with these feelings. Because of this, everyone is “happy” and the world is stable. I love in the one chapter when John claims his right to be unhappy and the right to refuse soma.
2. I don’t think media is like soma because I don’t use technology to escape my feelings or the world. I am still left to think about my problems while I use technology. Rather, I recently have found my soma ration in running.
1. I think John is spot on when he tries to free the Delta’s by throwing away their soma. Soma in their world is the release, an escape from their already perfect world. By taking soma, it diminishes their ability to rationalize and come to the realization of their problems. 2. I do think the technologies we have turned off this week are like soma in that they make it easier to cope with the problems in life, they both are stress relievers- or supposed to be. They both are used to solve a problem or make life easier at least that is there intention. While they do make life easier, they cloud the mind and make it virtually impossible to think logically and clearly.
I believe John is right in thinking that soma is comparable to incarceration because it keeps these people from feeling what they would naturally feel and helps them to make decisions which they normally would not have. Before the tech turn-off I would have said that our technologies were not comparable to soma but now as I try to stay away from these everyday technologies I realize more and more how much they are like soma. We use them like a drug we are addicted to and can’t seem to go a day without and they too seem to determine or happiness and many of the decisions we make throughout the day. In John’s eyes as well our technology would be the equivalent of soma.
I think John is right to associate the two. Soma takes away a person’s right to feel anything but happy. And if you don’t have the ability to chose how you want to feel and react, you’re not truly free. Mustapha Monde even admits that the soma is a way for the government to keep its control and stabilty. I wouldn’t compare the media we use to soma because we control how much it affects us. I don’t believe that I need these devices to be happy. In fact when I look back on it, my best memories don’t include the use of any of the devices people are so fond of today. Are people actually reading this?
John is right to associate soma with incarceration because the citizens are addicted to it, but not because of what it does. Any addiction is enslaving, so of course since the Brave New World citizens can’t go without it, they are enslaved by it.
The technology we are going without for a week can be like soma, it depends on the individual. If we let ourselves be weaker than the technology we use then we do become addicted to it, and it is like soma. However, some technologies are such a major part of our lives that to turn them off for a week is detrimental, not necessarily because we are addicted to them, but because without them we fall behind. You could see this as an addiction, but in that case, were addicted to the society we live in, and then the only way to break that addiction is to leave the society, to ostracize ourselves. This may not be a terrible thing, it’s really just the decision to make: Use technology and work with the society, or disconnect and stay in a world without change. The Amish do it, if a person finds the Amish lifestyle “better, more connected, more human” than I think they are willing to accept new members.
A few additional musings…
I think the issue here isn’t the new “crazy” technology we are inventing, if that was the case, the basic wheel should be feared. Yes, the wheels everywhere, on cars, bikes, chairs.. because obviously they make transport faster (among other uses). How long until were transporting so fast that we don’t take the time to connect with each other? and our lives are moving too fast? and we are in the brave new world? the same could be said for ANYTHING invented, ever.
I think the real issue is the capacity we have of self control, and the strength to question the world we live in. We should be finding the line between us controlling technology, and technology controlling us.
Ok. So i think John had the right idea just the wrong group of people. If he had tried this on one of the islands that Bernard or Helmhotz is sent to it might have worked. however, the people living in the brave new world are too conditioned to even want the freedom that he talks about because they believe they already have it.
The media could be compared to soma in the fact that alot of these technologies make us happy and some of them we feel we need. of course, the true question is weather or not this is bringing us true happiness or not. and of course, we dont really need any of this stuff for survival, but for happiness and peace of mind maybe.
As far as the whole generational thing is concered i think that my parents would have just as hard a time as me. we grew up with technology so it is a part of our life. going with out it really is like experiencing something totally different. for our parents, they would be giving up the luxaries that they remeember not having and they dont want to go back to that. they like the new technologies that we have because they make their lives better. I think my parents would struggle.
I haven’t been texting at all and it is amazing. Such a different kind of escape. I actually produce, learn, and create so much more without having to worry about who’s trying to reach me. And on that point, I have noticed that anyone who calls me, actually wants to say something of importance. Instead of shallow texting remarks sent and recieved, all throughout the day, people who I call and call me actually say stuff. Its funny, though, because I told my dad that I can’t watch TV and it made me realize how much he watches, and how much collective time we must spend together passively watching, or escaping, into the TV.
On with the questions….
1) I can see John’s point of view. I can also see the majority’s perspective too, it is a stability they have been trained, or conditioned to like. It is like any other thing that someone has grown up around, that brings instant gratification. It is an incarceration from our point of view, but to them it is nothing but a joy.
2) In some ways, yes, cell phones and iPods and television sets are quite like soma. They have no side effect, simply providing a temporary “vacation” from wherever someone happens to be. I’ve noticed that when I’m in an awkward situation, I tend to reach for my phone. Any social discomfort is immediatly killed with our technology.
Well i think John is wrong to compare soma to incarceration because the people in Brave New World do have a choice. Helmholtz and Bernard (to an extent) are good examples of this they choose at moments to not take soma. I feel that incarceration is something that is forced upon you and although these people have been conditioned to take it they can still break free of that. And I do not believe phones, computers, or TV’s are comparable to soma (or at least not for me). This is because I personally don’t use them as a escape (although I guess I can see how others could) and although I have been pretty resistant to this turn off, if they were taken away from me I would be fine unlike Linda who suffers without soma.
1) I do believe John was right because the soma gives them no choice but to be happy. And without having any choices, comparing them to an inmate in prison is a very good analogy.
2) I think that the media we use everyday are comparable to soma because its something that keeps us from questioning anything. Besides trying to explore or answer life’s biggest questions, we are given this technology to take up our time and turn our minds to mush.
I definitely think that John is right in associating soma with incarceration. Soma prevents anyone from being able to have their own thoughts and experience things like sadness, anger, and unsatisfaction that, however unpleasant at the time, help us grow and develop in our character and humanity. I think that the media we are going without for this week are comparable to soma in that it is a pacifier of sorts. We’ve become so dependent on something that is supposed to be a good and helpful thing that is gnawing away at our humanity and yet, when someone tries to help us by taking these “toxins” away from us we retaliate and freak out.
I think John is right to throw the soma out the window because in The Brave New World the people use the some to completely escape from reality and not face the truth of the world around them. However the technology we are being asked to turn off I feel are not comparable to soma. Some of the things are though. The random surfing of the web not really looking for anything just wasting time is. We use these things to procrastinate or just ignore everything around us. But some of the things like the cell phones are necessary to our everyday lives in just communicating with others that otherwise it would be very difficult to do.
Soma is a way of oppressing free thought so in that way it incarcerates the mind. But its ironic to see how its a pleasure oppossed to a punishment. For our modern day devices, they don’t incapcitate the ability to think, they just make it easier to not think.
Yes, John right to associate soma with incarceration becasue it creates a false representation of who these people actually are. Without it, as Bernard points out, they aren’t always happy, therefore and being enslaved, maybe to them in a good way, by this “happy” medicine that makes everything appear okay. When in reality they are trapped by this unrealistic view of their society, and it is harmful to them.
To a certain exent I believe the media you have asked us to go without are very comparable to soma. Even as you said, by the looks of it most people are incapable of turing their technology off. Their so addicted and find their happiness through this media. I have also been having troubles next texting or going on Facebook, and this i think is because we have been so “conditioned” to use these technologies that a lot of us don’t know what to do without them. They are for some people a source of joy, and they aren’t sure what to do without them, which is very sad.
1 no , soma is a good way to create a better world
2 the tech turnoff would be much better if we wernt being forced to use a computer everyday.
1) John is absolutely right to associate soma with incarceration. The Delta’s don’t even realize it, but soma causes them to be trapped in a world where they can’t think for themselves. It’s a type of mental incarceration — maybe if they did without soma they could have the freedom to have individual thoughts.
2)In some ways, the media is also like incarceration. Drugs, like soma, physically alters our capacity for thinking. The media is very similar. When we are constantly plugged into technology we are not thinking for ourselves, we are allowing the technology to think for us. Also, I think it can very easily be said that many of us are addicted to our technology. Not a physical addiction like drugs, but a mental one.
1. i think that john is right to associate soma with incarceration because they are completely consumed with it. they would not be able to function and they would probably break down and feel useless and worthless without it.
2. i think in some ways the media we use can be compared to soma in that we use these things to distract us from reality so to speak. if we are feeling stressed about hw or work or something we can just get on facebook or listen to music and basically forget about it. if were having a bad day we can text a friend and vent to them without having to feel vulnerable in person. however i think they can also have the opposite effect, which can also compare to soma. Linda pretty much died from so much soma and im not saying that the media is gonna kill us but its not good for us to use all of the time, constantly. it can be distracting, frustrating if its not working right, it can cause problems between people if your texting or iming and someone takes something the wrong way because they cant actually hear the tone of your voice.
I for sure think that the soma is incarceration for us. It imprisons us to our emotions. If the only thing we can feel is happy, the soma is blockading the things that make us human. And i think a big characteristic of being human is experiencing all those different emotions we are capable of feeling. By putting the people in a constant state of happiness, that’s deflecting them from the real world.
However, i don’t think the media is imprisoning us. I mean, yes, there are those people who are WAYYYY too obsessed with their technology–but they’re the exceptions. For the most part, the media available to the world allows us to still function in everday life. we are still able to feel the different emotions that makes us human.
I think it is right for john to associate soma with incarceration because he saw what it had done to Linda and how dependent she was on it and how even when she was in the reservation she drank alot of alcohol because it was like soma. He is rigt to asscociate it to incarceration. i think that some technologies can be compared to soma because it lulles us and it is like a vacation to another world but i also think that technologies are very useful and can be used for the betterment of oneself so i think that in moderation technology is a good thing.
1) Yes, I think taking soma is incarceration. If it were optional to take soma I wouldn’t call that incarceration but since it’s a requirement to take it, I’d say it’s very much an incarceration because soma makes it so that people can’t think and making this mandatory is just plain mutiny.
2) Yes, because some of us become so addicted to stuff like texting and watching the TV that we do it 70% of the time (meals and sleeping for breaks). This distracts us from the actual reality that we need to do schoolwork, and if there was actual school in the Brave New World society, soma would have the exact same effect.
P.S. Sorry this is late.
1) i think john is right associating soma with incarceration, because soma traps your mind in a different world, which keeps them from having their own thoughts and emotions. without soma they would be able to think freely.
2) i dont think technology is like soma because technology doesn’t put our mind in a different state, unless you allow it too. if the technologies in your life are the only source of your happiness then they are like a drug, like soma. but for me, they are just how i stay connected to society.
John is completely right. A drug used by an entire society to maintain order gives the population less control and identity than a man in prison. Soma is a prison for the mind. And yes, you could stretch the comparison far enough as to say that our daily technologies are like soma. However the only argument you could make is that they are both things the masses are attatched to. I personally wouldn’t become blind with rage if someone took my television away from me. The brave new world is an extreme, and until it is proven that technology is an addiction rather than a method for achieving efficiency, I have a hard time comparing myself to an enraged, drug hungry Delta.
I agree with Brockc1, soma is our incarceration. As humans we were built to feel pain, love, hatred, sadness and overwhelming happiness, it is what forms our personalities and characteristics. We learn from pain and remember to not do that again. With happiness we learn what will make us happy. Its a part of life that comes naturally and without our concent everyday and we have to learn how to deal with it.
The media though isn’t imprisoning us. It is our choice to listen to it and take in its information, sure the weather isn’t an opinion but the other stories always have a side and we have the choice to agree or disagree. Its method of informing us isn’t in the form of brainwashing ( if it was there would be no such thing as political parties) and we even have the choice of turning it off and making it shut up.
yes john can compare soma to incarceration because you become inprisoned by it like a an adiction or a “personal Prison”! and yes some is comparable to our tech. turn off because he are basicly living off our technology and its giving us false happiness but without this FALSE happiness we lose control and dont know what to do with ourselves.
I think John is right! That soma drug is very similar to being locked up and out of touch with society. The drug makes them high so that they can feel good, and won’t worry about problems, in other words the real human emotion. When someone is locked up i can image they are made to go by the rules in the jail not knowing how it feels to be in the real world. The two are almost the same.
As for the things we are to go without, I think it depends on person that uses it if it is comparable to soma. With me I would say my computer is comparable with soma. When i’m on it, it’s like nothing else really matters. In a way I am addicted to the screen. In stead of going outside or reading the news paper I would sit at the screen. That made me not see what was happening in my own house, and in the news around me. As for video games, I would play them sometimes but I wouldn’t sit down for hours though. So like I said before, it depends on how the person uses that technology. For the most part I feel like my generation has in a way become addicted to these technologies as if they were a form of soma.
I think John is right saying that soma is like incarceration in which when the people in the Brave New World take soma they don’t have free will and in which they are incarcerated in their own mind without any free will. I don’t think that technology that we are not allowed to use this week are not like soma seeing that you do have free will when using it.
John is right to take action, believing that soma has control of them. We have our own type of soma but refuse to take thought in how we define soma. While we see this in a novel in true actuality we take our media and transfer our time to it. It takes control of our thoughts and actions. If our technology isn’t as bad as soma then we should easily go without them for a few days, but clearly it is a lot harder to handle. We get upset just like the characters that get there soma taken away, we continue to use it and return to our happiness once we have gotten our technology back.
I think that soma is like incarceration because it takes away everything that we as Americans cherish. Free choice is missing due to their conditioning. Soma is a drug that was made by the government to keep people happy. But true happiness is created by the things you do and not a drug. Technology is sort of like soma because it represses you. It keeps your mind focused on unimportant tasks and creates a false sense of happiness.
I think John is right to associate the two because taking the soma completely alters how you feel leaving you in a “prison”. It in not the jail type prison that you think of right away, but you are locked into a world of pure ‘happiness’ and to John that is a prison for him coming from having the freedom to feel how he wants when he wants. And the items that you have asked us to turn off this past week are not comparable to soma. They don’t always have the same effect on you each time you use them. And when you use them you can feel how you want. You are still in control unlike when you take soma.
1) I think he is right. Soma was created to make everyone happy and take away the emotions that create a world of terrors. Soma is supposed to keep everyone content with the choices people made for them.
2) In a way they could be seen as that, but at the same time I feel like that maybe a little extreme. They are made to make us happy but I dont feel like they were made so we wouldnt rebel or do something crazy. If they are considered to be like soma I feel like they would be a lower level or a begining stage of soma.