From Alistair Wardrope
Ronald Siegel’s views in “The intoxication instinct” (13 November, p 32) recalled for me the ominous tenet “A gram is better than a damn” in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian masterpiece Brave New World. Would “new chemicals that allow us to experience all the pleasures, thrills and adventures of intoxication without the downsides” be of any benefit to society? Or might they destroy us?
Altering our state of consciousness as a solution to boredom, stress and other woes, though initially appealing, could well lead to social stagnation as the dull, yet necessary, work is cast off in favour of this quick release. When our “normal” consciousness has got humanity this far, why should we doubt it?
Sheffield, UK
