There are lots of parallels i noticed in the video that were similar to Brave New World. Several of which were very strong congruencies:
First, there was the idea of ADHD being an epidemic in America. Sir Ken Robinson points out that there is not really an epidemic and that children are being medicated carelessly. they are given Ritalin and Adderol so they can be focused in school. a non-medical problem is being cared for with medication. this strongly resembles the Somma in Brave New World. if someone isnt happy, they simple take Somma, and suddenly theyre content again. This reliance on drugs is a parallel between Huxleys novel and Sir Robinson's video.
Next, i noticed the similarities between how our education system puts children in groups by age and has them taught to think that there is only one answer. Robinson points out how students are taught linearly instead of divergently. this standardization of education reflects the caste system in Brave New World and how each caste is conditioned to be only able to do the job their caste demands. each caste is conditioned through hypnopaedia to to only think one way, this resembles the culture of our education system and how students are taught to think only in terms of if one score high on tests, one is intelligent and will have a good job and if one scores low, the person is unintelligent and must have a laborous job.
Another significant thing i noticed was the similarities between the "production line mentality" of America's education system, and the biologically mass-produced citizens of the World State in Brave New World. The students in America go through this process of classes organized by age, yet as Robinson elucidates, age does not necessarily dictate a students aptitude or discipline with a certain subject. This parallels the caste system in the novel and how everyone is conditioned from pre-birth to maturity to only be intelligent enough for their caste's jobs.
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