Scientists have discovered that by blocking the effect of a gene called D2 in a particular part of the brain they can transform normal monkeys into "drones" that will work as hard as they can, continuously, on repetitive tasks, without needing any expection of reward to keep going. In other words, they can transform regular monkeys into the primate-equivalent of worker-bee's. Normally monkeys (and most humans) tend to work hardest only when they expect a reward, and in particular they don't usually sustain high productivity on endless repetitive tasks without some sort of "light at the end of the tunnel." But not anymore; It's a Brave New World folks -- this same drone-gene is expected to also function the same way in humans, raising the spectre of Aldous Huxley's Epsilon (human drone worker) Caste becoming a reality. (New product idea -- Dronicine -- the little grey pill that makes you a drone!). It's a scary thought -- but then again, maybe a daily dose of this stuff would have made junior high-school more bearable. Come to think of it by the way, for those of you (like me) who find themselves working 12 hours a day for no reason (and without any big reward in sight for that matter), maybe we're already drones???
The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a
system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return. - Gore Vidal
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism it's just the opposite.- John Kenneth Galbraith
Posted by: laura | October 22, 2004 at 10:17 AM