Throwback Sunday: The Dangers of Classical Conditioning

A few weeks ago, for English class, I had to read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. For those who haven't read it, it's a book about a dystopian future where the totalitarian government controls everything about the people, from the amount of teratogens they're exposed to as embryos to the material they learn as children to the societally accepted behavior. Basically, this book is screaming to be involved in an AP Psych blog post.

In the first chapter of the book, the audience is given a tour of where the people of this society come from. We are shown the labs where zygotes are cloned and then turned into thousands of people, where the embryos are tested for genetic predispositions for diseases and intelligence, and then separated into castes. (These children are "grown" in factories, not born normally.) Those of the lower castes are given alcohol to stunt their growth and intelligence. Those of the upper castes are not. That way, the society has people of all different intelligence levels that can each serve their own purpose in society without taking over the roles of the others.

In chapter two, we are introduced to the early indoctrination system of this society. Toddlers, who all live in government facilities, are taught exactly what the government wants them to know. How do they accomplish this? Classical conditioning, of course! In the book, the government wanted the children to be as productive as possible, so, at age 2 or 3, the children are taken to a playroom. In the playroom, there are lots of flowers. The children play happily. Suddenly, all of the children in the room are shocked. Then, when they see the flowers again, they start crying and will avoid flowers for the rest of their lives, most likely. Of course, they generalize so that all flowers they see are associated with the shock. The end result is a society that hates flowers and doesn't waste time worrying about frivolous things, like flowers.

I read these chapters while on a bus to Capital Hill. It took me about five seconds to call Noga over and yell, "PSYCHOLOGY!" It still amazes me that the concepts we learn in class can appear all over the place and really do have a profound effect on the world. At the same time, it scares me that the things we learn about in class can be so dangerous and destructive when used incorrectly.