Brave New World Revisited Quantity, Quality and Morality

Science in The Brave New World Population Control: Eugenics and dysgenics – find definitions Bottle babies Bokanovsky Process

1931 And Before… Without advanced medications, children born with defects rarely survived Genetics was naturally controlled this way – the children did not grow up to pass along their defective genes (Survival of the Fittest)

1952 No worldwide system to control population exists World overpopulated with the wrong kind of people: Poor genetics = stupid population Poor genetics = sicker people Poor genetics = less advancements

1952– Health Children born with genetic defects survive and pass along their defective genes because of: Good hygeine Advanced medicine Social conscience The physical health of the general population is getting poorer

1952 – Intelligence Along with a decline of average health comes a decline of average intelligence Dr. W. H. Sheldon: “Under conditions that are both soft and unregulated…our best stock tends to be outbred by stock that is inferior to it in every respect…reproductive delinquency is biological and basic…nobody knows just how far the average IQ in this country has declined since 1916, when Terman attempted to standardize the meaning of IQ 100.”

1952 - Poor Countries 4/5 of country’s population eat less than 2000 calories a day What does this do to health? Only 1/5 of population eat an adequate diet

1952 - Rich Countries Practice dysgenics IQ’s on the decline

Ethical Dilemma in 1952 and Today How do we solve the problem? Do we continue to medicate people, save thousands of lives if it means that world population rises so much that we can no longer clothe, feed, education or shelter the people of the world? Do we let people die of diseases in order to ensure that we have enough resources for the healthy and strong?

Ethical Dilemma Do we continue to allow “congenitally insufficient organisms” that are alive only because they rely on medicine and social services to survive and have children? Helping the unfortunate is obviously good, but at what cost?

Huxley’s Prediction The progressive contamination of the human gene pool will create a world of morons

In the Brave New World No disease No starvation Levels of intelligence are predetermined and manipulated before birth Levels of society (castes)

WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS? Today’s World Has the world changed since 1952? Are we still concerned with eugenics or dysgenics? WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?