Conditioning in "A Brave New World"

Extreme Conditioning The citizens of the World State are conditioned to keep stability in their community. They are made to love the conditions of their jobs and castes, thus ending labor strikes and bringing a new definition of productivity to the World State. The emotional conditioning prevents insanity and negative feelings between people. The citizens are compliant with their government because of the moral conditioning. The conditioning of the World State citizens is in their best interests because it makes them productive, keeps them sane, and makes them content with the rules set forth for them. In the World State, the physical conditioning keeps the workers happy and productive while doing their jobs. Embryos are injected with alcohol, given less oxygen, and incubated at higher temperatures in order to prepare the unborn Epsilon, Gamma, or Delta for their jobs. Henry Foster explained, “We condition them to thrive on heat.” This heat conditioning made the workers well-suited for their working environment. They work in mines, factories, and even the tropics. If they did not love the heat, they would not be able to work in such harsh conditions productively. Another form of conditioning that is essential in keeping the stability in the World State is given to the gammas, deltas, and epsilons. “‘And now’ shouted the Director, ‘now we proceed to rub the lesson in with a mild electric shock.’” The lower caste babies are subjected to “Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning”, which conditioned them to fear flowers, bright colors, and books. If the lower classes were to want these things, they would soon want everything that the Alphas and Betas have. They would want equality and would upset the World State. The physical conditioning keeps the castes stable while the emotional conditioning keeps the individuals from reverting to today’s emotional level. Preventing negative emotions is one of the keys to the World State’s stability. During the tour of the London hatchery,