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Hypnopaedia is sleep teaching, and the controllers use it in Brave New World to "condition" its populace to accept promiscuity, use and abuse soma, and "brainwash" them to accept the values and tenets of the Brave New World. Hypnopaedia is a form of subliminal reinforcement whereby hypnopaedic slogans such as "a gramme is better than a damn" are played while the individual is asleep. While awake, the individual will spout off these slogans automatically and behave however the controllers want them to behave.
In Chapter 2 of Brave New World the Director explains the principle of "sleep-teaching." Contrary to what was originally believed, science cannot be taught through hypnopaedia because one "must know what science is about" the director explains. But moral education can be taught through sleep-conditioning because, the director points out, it "ought never, in any circumstances, to be rational." Therefore, the World State has children learn such things as class consciousness as they sleep. To exemplify his point, the Director has what is being broadcast to the children under their pillows. "I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are....too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides, they wear black, which is such a beastly colour. I'm so glad I'm a Beta."
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