Would you like to live in a community like the one in the book? Why or why not?

The book reminds me of the philosophical challenge of "the box."  If one could enter this "box" where one could feel no pain or misery, and only experience sensations and feelings of joy and happiness, is this something worthy of pursuit?  In the final analysis, individuals have to end up choosing, in this paradigm, whether the desire for pleasure and joy, without any of the essence of human interaction or "reality," is something that overwhelms the painful condition of being human.  In the final analysis, I think that I fear too much the element of outside control in going "into the box."  While the condition of consciousness carries with it much pain, much sorrow, and much in the way of hurt, it is distinctly mine, distinctly individualistic, and something that helps to define my identity.  The desire to be the author, to some extent, of my own narrative is what I place primacy.  This would be why I would have to reject the Community offered in Lowry's book, as it seeks to eliminate individual distinction, personal memory, and authentic narrative.  For me, this is a license for a great level of central and external control, denying me the essence of my own identity and sense of self.