in the Nurseries, the students observe some 8-month-old Delta babies
the babies are presented with books and flowers, but when they joyfully advance those items, alarms ring and the babies are given an electroshock
when the nurses present the babies with flowers and books again, they start crying and wincing
this process is repeated over 200 times and afterwards, the children will have developed a hatred towards books and flowers
books are somewhat forbidden for lower castes as the government believes that reading books will decondition Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons
it is different with the flowers though: the lower castes used to be conditioned to like flowers and nature in general as the government wanted them to use transportation often to get to the countryside
however, the government meant to increase the consumption of goods which is why the World State abolished the love for nature while at the same time, they maintained the wish to use transportation since the lower castes hate the country but they love country sports
the Director tells a story about the child Reuben
his parents spoke Polish, the students are ashamed by the word "parents" as references to sexual reproduction are regarded as pornographic
one night, the parents left the radio on in Reuben‘s room, and the next day, Reuben was able to repeat everything that was said in a radioshow
the fact that Reuben was able to learn something overnight led to the discovery of sleep teaching (also known as hypnopaedia)
hypnopaedia was discovered 23 years after the first Ford Model T was sold and the Director draws a T on his stomach (just as Catholics draw a cross on their chest), alls the students imitate him
hypnopaedia could not be used for intellectual training because Reuben did not understand the radioshow although he could repeat it; instead, moral training can be instilled into human beings via hypnopaedia
when the Director leads the group to a dormitory, the students learn that hypnopaedia is applied to Betas in order to teach them pride and happiness but also to raise the mindset that Alphas have to work too hard in the Beta children
this lesson (called Elementary Class Consciousness) is repeated 120 times, 3 times a week for 30 months
the Director states that hypnopaedia is “the greatest moralizing and socializing force of all time.” (p. 23)
Function
the pillars of the World State are further established
conditioning embryos as well as babies ensures social stability and economic productivity
those humans develop into unthinking individuals, without being individual since they behave exactly alike
the population supports the capitalist economic system by consuming transportation or exercising expensive sports
