Week 40, 2025 In Reveries
Engineered Pleasure | Read-list Series, Essay on Chapters 4-6 of Huxley's Brave New World.
Preface 👋
Did you ever wonder if pleasure and happiness are engineered, would you feel the same way about them? What if there are two triggers for happiness that you feel — one being what you are told will make you happy, and the other, which is the truth, that comes from within you? Is there any comfort in it if there is no true meaning to it?
This is what I kept wondering while reading Chapters 4-6 of Huxley’s Brave New World through the eyes of three characters who juggle between these states from which they draw their happiness and pleasure.
It is so uncanny how a book written nearly a century ago still feels like it is speaking to our present. It makes me wonder if these were always the problems of human fulfillment, but they have only changed attires so they seem different in different centuries and eras.
I have also made significant progress in my Oxford critical reading course, where I had to analyze poetry and work on an assignment. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Next week I am going to learn more about how to analyze narrative prose better. And that, dear, is what I am very interested in!
Note: From next week onwards, you will receive one In Reveries Digest every fortnight instead of every week. I have consciously taken this decision so I can focus on consuming and creating meaningful content. This comes from an inspiration I took from the book itself.
“Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything. You read and you are pierced.” — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
And I surely do want to bring you something which will pierce you! ♥️
Between Pages 📖
The third essay in my Manufactured Minds series is on Chapters 4-6. I explored Huxley’s vision of engineered pleasure through Bernard, Lenina, and Helmholtz.
If pleasure can be manufactured, does it retain any meaning at all?
Two Dolls Dream of Happiness But Not Pleasure
In the BNW, "soma" drowns every discontent and is a pill for phantom happiness. In our world, maybe it is not a pill at all, but the endless dopamine hits of scrolling. So I ask: has distraction replaced true happiness for us too?
Relevant Archive 🔗
If you would like to read through my first two pieces in the Manufactured Minds series on BNW, this is the collection so far:
Essay 1: Preface
Manufactured Minds
Why return to BNW nearly a century after its publication? It feels like reading a prophecy in real time!
Essay 2: Chapters 1-3
We, the Manufactured Dolls of the World Factory
Imagine the terror of living in a world that functions as a factory, where you exist as just another manufactured doll. Throughout history, we have consistently chosen order over freedom. When that order controls the mind, the result is truly horrifying. No one resists — not because they can't, but because they neither know how nor want to. We simply become one of countless manufactured dolls, waiting to be manipulated.
Thoughts to Hold 💭
These are a few recent wandering thoughts!
Until Next Time 👋
As this check-in comes to a close, I am grateful for the time we have spent wandering together through ideas and words. I look forward to reconnecting with you in the next digest.
Until then, my dear, take care of yourself.
Yours in thought,
Yana ♥️
P.S. I pour my heart into every word I write, and it means the world to have you here. Also, please consider sharing it with others who might appreciate this space for intellectual exploration. ♥️