1961: Aldous Huxley on the power of TECHNOLOGY! | In Conversation | Classic Interviews | BBC Archive

[@theram4320]

Leave aside the fact that we have far fewer humans of his stature in 2024 available for interviews - in any field. This is how a discussion/interview should be. Ask questions, probe slightly, but ultimately allow the guest to expand at their leisure. No pressure, no facile BS, no interruptions, no media company or societal agenda to push on people. Oh what we have lost in the last few decades.

[@ThomasBusby]

I disagree. We probably have many. They just haven't been selected yet. It becomes clear who the greats are in retrospect. Many of the most famous people of earlier eras are forgotten.

[@theram4320]

@@ThomasBusby I take your point, and there is probably some truth in it. However, since the 1970s (at least) Western education and thought has become diluted, and technology is increasingly augmenting or replacing human thought and endeavour. That must have an impact.

[@ThomasBusby]

@@theram4320 lol, Aldous is, in this video, making the same point 60 years ago in an era that you agree had great thinkers

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

@@ThomasBusby I have to disagree with your disagreement on this point - you correctly state that the great intellects are only apparent in retrospect, but I must argue that this retrospect is a moving window, the great thinkers from a younger generation take time to emerge indeed, but where are the ones from the periods prior who should have arisen by now? I think the OP's point is valid, a gap is visible and we are lacking the set of great thinkers and debaters who should be intriguing us in current popular discourse. I believe this is a cultural issue, and one in fact touched upon in this very interview about man being shaped by technology. We are witnessing the effects of this very idea.

[@batDOG.RECORDS]

End standardized testing

[@polo-kf6yh]

Are there great men like these anymore? So much wisdom.

[@andydixon2980]

I doubt it.

[@johninjersey]

Today we have the very stable genus Trump

[@jessicamedwedew7167]

Of course, but a lot are shut down for being open about it.

[@Theqpom]

Dr Jordan Peterson has several nominations ❤

[@samdaviesaviationandfootba2602]

NAOM CHOMSKY.......ROBERT WINSTON.......AND HOPEFULLY MORE

[@llandriell]

Brave New World has affected me the in way a lot of people talk about 1984. This is fabulous, thank you

[@zazawitch]

Me too. I like both but BNW has so much more depth and I’m just in love with it. Each time I read it I find a new meaning. It’s practically my bible lol

[@davidweber5833]

Brave New World is better than average science fiction. It’s not literature. 1984 is one of the greatest novels of all time. (Nothing to do with who predicted what.)

[@randystanton1224]

Ape and essence shouldn't be forgotten

[@lulloa47]

What a breath of fresh air listening to this man in the nauseous times we live in.

[@ldobbs2384]

Nauseating. Times can't be nauseous. They have no central nervous systems. 🤙

[@alancawfield6549]

Amazing how good Huxley was at predicting the future.

[@Blkboyinspired]

It’s almost as if his family weren’t the ones who created such science and engineering models in cognitive psychology. Their eugenics movement executed this very strategy

[@Nodadj]

He knew everything since his brother Julian and his family had information on what was the goal for globalist agenda. Read about his brother Julian and the U.N Julian Huxley was dedicated to finding the way to a better life and to the wider access of all mankind to such a life. After World War II, when the United Nations was set up, Huxley was appointed the first Director-General of UNESCO, the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Here he was able to promote world-wide education, population control and conservation of nature. He became the first President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now known as Humanists International) in 1952, and of the British Humanist Association (now known as Humanists UK) in 1963. He saw Humanism as a replacement ‘religion’, and as such represented an important strand in post-war humanist thought. In a speech given to a conference in 1965 he spoke of the need for “a religiously and socially effective system of humanism.” And in his book Religion Without Revelation, he wrote: “What the sciences discover about the natural world and about the origins, nature and destiny of man is the truth for religion. There is no other kind of valid knowledge. This natural knowledge, organized and applied to human fulfilment, is the basis of the new and permanent religion.” The book ends with the concept of “transhumanism”- “man remaining man, but transcending himself by realizing new possibilities of and for his human nature”.

[@alienvampirebusterswhoyoug8257]

Aliens have contacted these governments for 100s of years this is the frogs getting boiled in slowly warming water effect soon it will be too late

[@Johnconno]

Hardly.

[@jellymulder]

Exactly.

[@robertd8351]

This was a most prescient discourse in 1961. I am thinking in terms of AI threatening everything that used to be social dynamics. Huxley had foreseen this, without even knowing the very details of it. What a man!

[@mayorofbonifacio]

Spot on!

[@rob99201]

And the social media component of the Internet that is also relatively recent. His book, Island though, like Brave New World sees drugs as a partial solution, wrist size measuring maturity, and hypnotic states to manipulate time which gives geniuses even more mental power. So some of the ideas are dated and some venture too far into the metaphysical, but it's an interesting read.

[@jasonayres]

Am reminded of the old newspaper cartoon of a child watching a live broadcast, on TV, of a sunset. Behind the child is a window, from which we can see the actual sunset.

[@AlexS-bi7of]

On holiday a few years ago I saw a man who had a waterproof sleeve for his phone so that he could film his children playing on the beach. It occurred to me then why you wouldn't just enjoy the moment and savour the memory of it rather than removing yourself in order to observe it in order to potentially watch it at a later date.

[@fromhell1980]

At the 2:50 mark he mentioned jacques ellul he was a French philosopher and sociologist who wrote the best book on propaganda is a must read.

[@ethanjung3392]

Thank you

[@normalguycap]

His final book, The Island, is far more important.

[@dream_machine812]

Thanks. I was searching for the book he was referring to at the end of the video

[@normalguycap]

@@dream_machine812 You're welcome.

[@boswollox4636]

Attention! Attention!

[@graemeyetts3465]

I wrote a brief story based on an island as a German student. It was a Kafka rip off but I was only 16 !😅 I didn't know about Huxleys book! Promise🎉

[@batDOG.RECORDS]

Here and Now boys!!!!

[@JoeStudd96]

I love how the interviewer here seems to just sit back and acknowledge he was in the presence of a genius. 3:59, he knows it then.

[@boswollox4636]

If humanity gets 1 of these individuals every 100 years, then I still have hope in the future.

[@animatewithdermot]

He namedrops Ellul, that would be Jacques Ellul, who wrote famous books about propaganda and susceptibillty to it, for those wot want to know more.

[@Kitsune-kun663]

The Technological Society is great too

[@psst...heyyou6508]

He wrote about so much more

[@wertnevis7319]

Thanks

[@rickraymo1319]

After having read his works multiple times, this was enjoyable. I needed to hear his brain try to wriggle around the interviewers planned fiasco. What a fellow.

[@perilousjack1964]

What a joy, I feel as if I'm in his company,,, an absolute, and what I believe as a beautiful person,

[@juliam.mallen9019]

Dude this wise man was right on 62 years later! #30seconds #whurlwind 🌀

[@YTcanLetUsDown]

The intelligence of old interviews to nowadays. I am trying to only watch this stuff or stick to my own theories. Not the drivel people become rich idols these days.

[@TheMerryMisadventuresFamily]

🎯🎯🎯

[@ydnallah1541]

The irony of watching this on KZbin on a smartphone 😵‍💫

[@lipan315]

We have very much narrowed our own consciousness down with the law of the technology. He is a prophet.

[@Realty1776]

SO TRUE in the past and present! Man is a victim of our own inventions and technologies.

[@davidbaise5137]

Thanks, Mr. H, and thanks for uploading.👍👍👍

[@patricknorton3138]

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of heroes or characters around anymore, people are very docile and homogenised seemingly.

[@StevenLeeMusician]

"Happy in their servitude." Or, in Klaus schwabs and others words..."you will own nothing and be happy about it." Covid controls and manipulation was the great "reset" that has expanded all of this.

[@chutney-h3o]

American TV has that effect. Sadly it's what hits UK TV too.

[@dr.impossibleofcounterpunc1984]

Huxley knew this in advance. Technocracy has been applied to developed countries since the 1950s. Huxley like H.G. Wells had solid understandings of science being used as a catalyst toward the formulation of a scientific dictatorship.

[@chutney-h3o]

Yes, as an elite, he knew the agenda with the inside knowledge he had access too, and so wrote a book about it. Hardly revelationary!

[@wizardaka]

This is amaaaaazing

[@sarojinichaudhury179]

Great Aldus Huxley - was in mind only as a name -never had any idea about his appearance ...several times I had taken his great book 'Time must have a stop ' - but never opened it ...and now I have seen this great thinker 'with my own eyes ' ...but do not know what he 'thinks ' ....and besides , I would imagine him as chewing betel nuts and leaf while talking ....grateful to see Aldus Huxley ...about whom I will not know much ...

[@senecaknowledge2274]

What utter nonsense

[@sarojinichaudhury179]

@@senecaknowledge2274 The great Aldus Huxley looks (to me ) in the interview as if he is chewing betel nuts - which is very popular in many places of India .

[@chutney-h3o]

Then ppl do say as an elite he had inside knowledge of the agenda. Same said about Orwell.

[@perilousjack1964]

Sense, of, ? ....rather than being in control of, !!!. This is true today.

[@sammoe1292]

Go read ISLAND. It’s the last book he wrote before he died. It’s also his antithesis to BRAVE NEW WORLD. It’s also better.

[@Petchary]

Yes, better written - a utopian world rather than dystopian. I got a little bored at times as it started to lecture me a little too much!

[@andrewlee8909]

This man was ahead of his time

[@juvenalhahne7750]

Parem de insistir nesse cliche: nunca ninguém esteve a frente de seu tempo: todos sempre vivemos no nosso presente. Além do que, a bomba atômica já existia e fora lançada em Hiroshima e Nagazaqui. A diferença de Huxlei estava apenas em não seguir a manada. Ele via o que continuamos não querendo ver...

[@chutney-h3o]

Yes, as an elite, he knew the agenda with the inside knowledge he had access too, and so wrote a book about it. Hardly revelationary!

[@PocketProjects]

Ancient Proverb: 'Necessity is the mother of invention' , 21st Century Proverb 'Greed is the mother of invention and all other useless crap'

[@iminatx3879]

This interviewer clearly was not ready to understand what Huxley was saying. Few were at the time. He was warning about a general, universal sickness of post-industrial civilization and all this guy could ask was "but the Russians are worse tho, right?"

[@fire.smok3]

True

[@HeleneOl-os3uq]

Right. It’s especially interesting watching this as a Russian lol. The interviewer wasn’t really getting it.

[@Lovemy911]

Russia & china is blamed for many things by the the western world governments .... I get the feeling weve been lied to all of our lives 😮....

[@0zyris]

If he had to have known about the rise internet and ubiquitous mobile devices, and the degree to which we have become slaves to the electronic world and addicts to the endless flow of garbage spewing from our mobiles, he would have known how terrifyingly true his prophesies were. We can never say we weren't warned.

[@chutney-h3o]

Yes, as an elite, he knew the agenda with the inside knowledge he had access too, and so wrote a book about it. Hardly revelationary!

[@megancrager4397]

The irony this is at a BBC channel...

[@tombradford7035]

Thank God Jonathon Ross or Graham Norton weren't the interviewers back then.

[@tocaat2410]

Or that clot who interviewed Elon Musk last year (or tried to).

[@carlospallete3030]

a warning against ai

[@tinytanks]

If he only knew how ahead of his time he really was.

[@chutney-h3o]

Yes, as an elite, he knew the agenda with the inside knowledge he had access too, and so wrote a book about it. Hardly revelationary!

[@kingdicer8677]

He was so ahead of his time it's remarkable. We are (or some of us are) such slaves to Social Media technologies to the point of absolute obsession.

[@PsychologicalApparition]

and video games highjack lives - steal souls. cause Those busy in them all day have neglected their roles in the physical realm. Technology is the Archons or Ahriman, successfully pulling out all people's power and attention. My nephew is like this -> dismisses hygiene and healthy human contact... The boy is harbouring some major demons by not playing the real game.

[@stationsixtyseven67]

If he could only see the world today...

[@Matteopolska]

Thanks

[@KaiRoberts-q2r]

Spot on ! Uhhh, hello AI ?

[@Anthony-hu3rj]

Yes, my son.

[@dickyboyryw]

A true, GREAT BRITAIN.. Up there with Alam Watts, Bertrand Russell, ect. Extraordinary, intelligence, insight, Vision. And he said this in 61...

[@chutney-h3o]

Yes, as an elite like the others you quote, he knew the agenda with the inside knowledge he had access too, and so wrote a book about it. Hardly revelationary!

[@roboi2241]

@@chutney-h3o * 'access to'

[@johnmc3862]

Liked his LSD, good man!

[@asammahmood5775]

Not bad, even for the BBC!

[@TinLeadHammer]

I suppose this has been recorded off a 405-line broadcast - looks quite rough. But great to watch nonetheless.

[@tonywright8294]

What relevance is that ?

[@josephocallaghan3000]

an added je ne sais quoi

[@psst...heyyou6508]

What are you? Is that bad technology ?

[@DH-zp7bc]

Nothing wrong with technology a pencil is technology is who controls it and if it can be controlled. No to tyranny.

[@jimlakey8366]

“…endless distractions…”, while watching KZbin on a laptop...

[@SuperBagshot]

He is talking about Artificial intelligence

[@DirkRevised]

Imagine, this video as a prompt to Ai! 🤖

[@edgilroy9887]

4:35 omfg 😢

[@Mitol01]

Да, конечно же)

[@byronmillanicia3384]

cellphones!!! amazing😊😊😊

[@Henrique-u5n]

Curious fact: these two people died of cancer.

[@commonwunder]

Humans afraid of becoming inhuman... seems to have been a cause of constant anxiety. it is unfortunate then, that transhuman has always been humanities only destination.

[@batDOG.RECORDS]

1:49 BLACK SABBATH 🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻

[@andycarapiet8190]

So true today - perfectly applicable to advances in AI - should be helping mankind - not replacing jobs.

[@stevie6621]

This guy stood for NWO technocracy.

[@Moo-cs3xn]

nah

[@bf9863]

Smart Phone and limitless apps

[@ACthe18th]

The book "The Sovereign Individual" describes the solution to "The Island" and #Bitcoin is the fundamental technology for the actual implementation.

[@paultimson6674]

is his eyes pointing in opposite directions.... has he a glass eye? or is he a gecco.

[@paultimson6674]

Technology is quite wonderful... we can fart into a tin.

[@juvenalhahne7750]

A tecnologia tem por sua propria funcao utilitaria ser constantemente aperfeicoada. E so olharmos para qualquer setor de sua aplicacao para verificarmos o fato. Por exemplos: os transportes e o cinema. Sobre isso e que Huxley afirma que a ciencia e a tecnologia tem leis proprias. Leis que o homem nao controla. De que ele portanto se nao descobrir o controle invertera a finalidade original delas, e se tornara seu escravo. De la para ca a situacao se agravou e agora o controle ou dominio pelo homem da tecnologia depende nao mais da sua suposta dignidade humana mas simplesmente de desejar a propria sobrevivencia. Huxley era um humanista e o valor do homem para ele se expressava atraves das grandes criacoes espirituais. Hoje, portanto, que estas nao constam mais dos interesses gerais, fica em aberto a questao do que motivara a forca de reacao contra o que ai esta...

[@roadwarrior8560]

Enoch Powell predicted the future too, rivers of blood.

[@Moo-cs3xn]

lol silly child

[@johnallen7232]

Him and the unibomber think alike

[@yorkiebuck]

What would he say now at the end of November 2024? The Valencia catastrophe; the hideous US general election result; biodiversity loss and the rise of AI.

[@DrPhilby]

In 1961 you aint seen nothing yet

[@joshsmith885]

promo sm 👉

[@carlosgomes2783]

An intelligent conversation on TV? Whatever next?

[@DSAK55]

Well pass too late

[@professormcclaine5738]

ULEZ cameras.

[@laurenth7187]

This is nonsense : He is ignoring McLuhan (published in 1964, but the ideas was around before) He is also ignoring Heidegger and others, Lieberman who was the husband of Luxembourg. He was not the first one thinking about technology. The general mood was to be afraid about the URSS, foremost as representation of what could be the future of mankind. It was SF russophobia already. There is in fact nothing to do about technology, and one should stop thinking it's necessary to get everything under control, in fact nothing is under control; one should give up on that. Even your eye is technology, an inbuilt one. Language is technology.

[@xiYoe-y9c]

Huxley was controlled opposition. Do your homework

[@williamneumyer7147]

What's YOUR agenda? (I assume user-od3yf4yo7p is your real name.)

[@xiYoe-y9c]

@@williamneumyer7147 reading books and EU raports is my homework 🤔

[@williamneumyer7147]

@@xiYoe-y9c I read books, too, and I know what I think of the undemocratic, authoritarian, warmongering EU. Do you mean "reports"?

[@williamneumyer7147]

@@xiYoe-y9c Look, if you want informative reporting on the EU racket here go to The Duran and its two commentators, Mercouris and Christoforu.

[@pablohoney9972]

you fool. You think a man like this is controlled? this brilliance is under control? it's a contrivance, a conceit in your reckoning? fool.

[@deanneely3443]

It's incredible how long that men like this can take to say absolutely nothing.

[@aaronbritton2709]

you hear nothing because you don’t listen.

[@deanneely3443]

@@aaronbritton2709 I don't remember posting that comment but two weeks ago I would have been so incredibly out-of-my-mind, thanks to being postictal from a particularly nasty cluster of epileptic seizures, as well as the intensity of all the medications that I would have been on... you're right! I'm sure I was barely listening, so I agree.

[@Moo-cs3xn]

@@deanneely3443 quiet

[@deanneely3443]

@@Moo-cs3xn No.

[@Moo-cs3xn]

@@deanneely3443 meow

[@marshallluddite]

Gosh, He looks as Evil as the prediction he wanted to happen, Evil

[@Moo-cs3xn]

golly gee hyuk

[@PaulMann8666]

He made a lot of sense. But I am glad that nobody today would try to speak English in that ridiculous synthetic accent and expect to be taken seriously.

[@secondchance6603]

🙄

[@KarlDMarx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_Voluntary_Servitude