In Huxley's book Brave New World, it is said that to make people obedient in the future, they started working on them while they were still children. One of the techniques they used was to teach children to hate books and nature...

Why does Huxley think that hating books and nature would teach children to be obedient?

Huxley says in his book that the children were put in rooms filled with colorful roses and books. As soon as the children began to turn the pages of the books or touch the petals of the roses, the electrical discharge was immediately activated from below, from the floor. The terrified children screamed madly and ran away from the roses and books. This was repeated at regular intervals. Therefore, when the children grow up, the conditioned reflex will make them stay away from books and nature. This was considered a great success and a victory for the Hatchery and Conditioning Center, because - as the director of the Center explains - gazing at nature and reading books are human habits that do not generate consumption, that do not encourage people to consume as much as possible and become addicted to the things they consume.

In Huxley's book, sports, entertainment, movies, going out for a drink with friends, and even group meetings were not forbidden, but only books and nature.

And why was that?

Because books and nature teach people, from childhood on, to be able to stand alone, to think with their own heads, to spend a lot of time walking in nature without being addicted to consuming.

For example, when you look at the sea, at the sky, at the sunset, when you are in the forest, in the mountains, you no longer hear the voice of the television telling you to be afraid of this or that thing, you no longer care about the newspapers, the politicians, the media, or that famous guy who wants to convince you that to be happy you have to have a luxury car, a pair of brand shoes, and a stylish bag... It's just you and the nature, free from the influence of media propaganda and consumerist advertising.

The same is true for those who read books. For them, everything else in the world disappears while they are reading. They are immersed in the world of books and feel free. When you read, there is no one around to tell you what emotions to feel, what character to like, or what kind of thoughts to have. Undoubtedly, the person who reads forms his own critical thinking and does not think with the mind of others.

But in a totalitarian society, where everyone is not allowed to think with his own mind, reading is very dangerous, as it is the nature. That is why they taught children in the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre to hate books and nature.