Happy Atheist Forum

I recently read 1984, and it automatically became my favorite book. It was so eye-opening to me. Recently I found the comic @ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/375 ... 552b_o.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/3750109138_41f43c552b_o.jpg) via Stumbleupon (there's more to it, but this was all I could find ATM). Basically it's quotes from an essay that states that Braves New World is more relevant and true in today's society than 1984. I tried reading BNW, but it got a bit confusing, and I soon lost interest. I plan to read it in full eventually. Thoughts? 1984 vs. Brave New World? Dystopia vs. illusory Utopia?

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"Recently I found the comic

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2525%2F3750109138_41f43c552b_o.jpg&hash=0ecfcbae243ab82e9853781bc205368324b9c3ac)

Here's the full version of the cartoon (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html).  The bit you posted is only a small portion of it.  It's well worth the look.  We truly are having our populace placated, made more docile and controllable, and frankly sedentary by the abundance of pleasure being inflicted upon us.

http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/ ... Death.html (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html)

Quote from: "iNow"

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"Recently I found the comic

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2525%2F3750109138_41f43c552b_o.jpg&hash=0ecfcbae243ab82e9853781bc205368324b9c3ac)

Here's the full version of the cartoon (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html).  The bit you posted is only a small portion of it.  It's well worth the look.  We truly are having our populace placated, made more docile and controllable, and frankly sedentary by the abundance of pleasure being inflicted upon us.

http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/ ... Death.html (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html)

Yeah, as I said, I had previously found the entirety of it through Stumbleupon, but that was all I found at the moment of posting.

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"Yeah, as I said, I had previously found the entirety of it through Stumbleupon, but that was all I found at the moment of posting.

Doh.
Totally missed that part of your post.  Sorry about that.

Either way, hopefully readers will appreciate the full comic which I shared on your behalf.  It was rather thought provoking, so I thought it was cool that you opened a thread on this topic.

Both are good books, they present extreme scenarios of the loss of free will, which is the defining human characteristic IMHO.

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"

Quote from: "iNow"

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"Recently I found the comic

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2525%2F3750109138_41f43c552b_o.jpg&hash=0ecfcbae243ab82e9853781bc205368324b9c3ac)

Here's the full version of the cartoon (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html).  The bit you posted is only a small portion of it.  It's well worth the look.  We truly are having our populace placated, made more docile and controllable, and frankly sedentary by the abundance of pleasure being inflicted upon us.

http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/ ... Death.html (http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html)

Yeah, as I said, I had previously found the entirety of it through Stumbleupon, but that was all I found at the moment of posting.

That's fine, we all make mistakes. I'm gonna go ahead and say 1984 > Brave New World, as that's the only one I read. It's all in that new book I got, A Creationist's Guide to Logic and Reason, by Kent Hovind.

Quote from: "-43-"Both are good books, they present extreme scenarios of the loss of free will, which is the defining human characteristic IMHO.

Honestly I don't think they're all that extreme. They seem to be pretty much in keeping with how humans have governed each other in the past, and present in many parts of the world.

I like Brave New World a lot, try to give it a shot and see it through to the end. It's interesting that Huxley's state of nature is seen as grotesque and horrifying as compared to, say, Rousseau with the noble savage and back to nature Utopia.

Quote from: "Seshat"

Quote from: "-43-"I like Brave New World a lot, try to give it a shot and see it through to the end. It's interesting that Huxley's state of nature is seen as grotesque and horrifying as compared to, say, Rousseau with the noble savage and back to nature Utopia.

I've read both of these books and i didn't care for Brave New World at all. While 1984 remains steadfast as one of my favorite books of all time

I don't know, I kind of liked BNW, in a sense that Orwell was just rambling sometimes. Apparently he was quite paranoid, and didn't let his publisher edit 1984 in any way. When you get to the same rhythm with Huxley, the book becomes easier to read. 1984 was more gripping though. They were both good I guess! I like dystopian novels a lot, Fahrenheit is a classic. Margaret Atwood I think writes the best modern dystopias, Handmaid's Tale slowly seems to become a reality.. Onyx and Crake is also neat.
Sheri S. Tepper's The Gate to Women's Country was unconventional, to say the least.

1984 was OK, but I prefer Fahrenheit 451 and Mockingbird.

When George Orwell wrote 1984, he was really sick. He gave orders to his editor, that if he died before he finished the manuscript, to destroy the manuscript. Basically it was by chance that it (and Orwell) survived.