Brave New World; Seminar Reflection

Reaction:
A comment made by one of my classmates which I disagreed with was one which pointed to
the concept of individual happiness to be a very complex subject. I disagreed with this comment
because it did not encompass or consider the fact that human happiness is derived purely from a
dopamine release in response to a stimulus such as that which would evolutionarily be beneficial to
the individuals survival, such as eating a sugary food item or securing social connections within the
group. Another concept with which I disagreed was some of my classmates misconceptions
concerning false happiness, which they defined loosely as the response to food or drugs. This is
not false happiness; it is simply temporary happiness and stimulus in relation to temporary survival,
while things which my classmates defined as real happiness included those subjects of a good grade
in school or positive social relation, which can neurologically be traced to a larger and more
continuous release of dopamine within the brain based on a stimulus association with an
achievement which can signal a more long-lasting securement of survival for the individual.
Self-Evaluation:
The area in which I felt that I did well during the seminar was that of elevating the
conversation to a level which could apply the concepts expressed in the given questions to other
arenas such as the ethicality of the given issues and the way in which the societal values expressed
could present themselves in an actual or hypothetical societal structure. I feel that I utilised the
given topic well, as far as not straying far off of the path of discussion, but in the way described
before added touches of philosophy and deep analytical and critical thinking skills. For example,
when our discussion group found ourselves on a question concerning happiness and how it should
be applied, I contributed a quick analysis of the way in which human neurons derive happiness
through a chemical release and this mechanisms actions upon the way society defines this release,
thus expanding on a new level of applications of the subject of happiness.
I believe that I have grown since the last socratic seminar by being able to sort out more key
and concise points which contain heavy intellectual material rather than, like in my previous
seminars, spew many points which arent all of intense analytical quality. My progression has
shown in this seminar through s lessened number of comments from me, but also more points
which elevated the intellectual properties of the conversation and adapted the concepts to various
and differing schools of thought.
Key Take-Away:
My largest key take-away from the book or the seminar is that of an ideal society requiring a
healthy balance between individual comfort and civil stability as well as the pursuit of truth,
progression, and beauty. Whereas Huxleys illustrated dystopian caste society exhibited an

over-reaching governmental hand which held its power in maintaining citizen contentment and
hence the withholding of knowledge and exploration, the opposite of a stability-centered and
controlled society is one with little to no government to control citizens access to truth, knowledge,
and beauty, and hence a rampant array of violence and a focus on survival within a crime-ridden
society which does place a high emphasis on progression. However, one may consider that in order
for knowledge, truth, and beauty to effectively be sought out, a certain level of civil peace is
required in order to support the higher arts and sciences. So, after an analysis of Huxleys extremist
society as well as a hypothetical consideration of this extremes opposite, it has become clear to me
that none of these is the appropriate melange of societal structure, and that a society which can
maintain peace while hosting a flourishing program of knowledge and truth must be created out of
an unlimited allowance of knowledge, but also have strong rewards and enforcements with which
to keep the masses in a stable and generally happy condition, thus reducing risks of violence and
rebellion, while also seeking out information concerning the current state of humanity and its
universe.