Technology is an Orwellian Takeover
The main goal of preventing our time period from being described as Orwellian again is stopping a technological takeover. Our generation grew up in a time of advanced technology with constant break throughs in devices becoming more mobile and affordable. However, as a kid my parents made sure I didn’t have access to these until it was absolutely necessary, or I was considered old enough. Much of my childhood was spent off screens and outside and I am grateful for that. It allowed me to use my childlike creativity in a setting where it wasn’t prompted. By this I mean, I and I alone was tasked with keeping myself entertained. Whether that was riding my bike for hours around the neighborhood or pretending to serve nature soup made of grass and mud. My imagination had full control of its surrounding and there were no limitations.
For me, to prevent a technological takeover or an Orwellian
time is to implement ways our generation was raised with our kids. So many times,
I see gets simply being entertained with a tablet, and whilst that’s fine some
of the time its not a way for open expression. You’re finding YouTube videos or
games to keep your mind active. It’s not just younger generations. Working in a
restaurant, it’s often common to see people more focused on there screens than
the people they invited to dinner.
I realized that these advancements in technology have their
benefits. Tablets can be a way to stimulate the brain and learn, and our phones
give us access to everything. Personally, I believe putting a limit on technology
in the household and everyday lives is a good system. Using what is necessary or
waiting until it is needed (whenever you see fit). This probably won’t stop an
Orwellian takeover, but it can at least prolong the inevitable. The inevitable being
a society totally reliant on technology.
Yeah this is a really interesting take and you can definitely see this being a bigger problem with younger and younger generations considering technology has progressed so much over time.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think technology brainwashes people in the same sense that the Party does. The only thing technology can do is augment what the user wants it to do. However, the user can always control how they interpret the information the technology outputs. For example, algorithm generated news feeds tend to polarize people's views (i.e. make them lean even more to the side they already did), but if people are aware for what is happening and actively seek out other news sources, then the algorithm has essentially no effect. So yes, technology should be used with caution, but I don't think it will be the cause of an inevitable takeover.
ReplyDeleteTechnology itself may not do the brainwashing but people are connected literally 24 hours a day (people wear smartwatches to sleep to monitor how much REM they're getting). That makes it easier than ever before to get to people's minds before they have a chance to process the information.
DeleteI love this. (I used to make "nature soup" too.) I think you're right about technology; certainly it can help us but it can also make us helpless without it. If you panic because you don't have your phone, that's the time to start deliberately leaving it behind once in a while, I believe. (OK, so sometimes I actually forget and pretend I deliberately left it behind on purpose.)
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on the over-reliance of technology. Your post made me feel incredibly nostalgic. I also think that technology can easily facilitate a dystopia, especially if we have to rely on it at an early age.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that decreasing or reliance on technology would help us avoid an Orwellian, tech controlled society. I'm not completely convinced that a tech-reliant world would necessarily become an Orwellian dystopia, though - I'm fairly confident (if perhaps naively so) that big technology companies are mostly benevolent. Of course, I might look back on this someday and think "wow, I was wrong."
ReplyDeleteThe internet is such a polar topic when it comes to our future. In many ways, the Internet has revolutionized life as we know it. Amazon makes purchasing easy; Google makes news accessible; Skype makes communication across distances possible. But amidst all the positives, there are quite a few negatives.
ReplyDeleteMany researchers are starting to point at the effect Social Media is having on Gen Z. Rates of depression and suicide are through the roof, and have been tied to social media use at a young age. Instant gratification and what-we-wanna-see content are formulated to keep us on our phones, laptops, and apps.
So I agree. Technology is an Orwellian takeover. Where do we go from here?
I think it's interesting what you're saying about technology being cumbersome for the creative and social development of kids, and maybe even us becoming too reliant on technology that we stop looking for new ways of accomplishing goals ourselves. I don't disagree with you on those points at all, but as you said, it might be inevitable, so possibly our best course of action is seeing how technology can help our creativity and problem solving skills early in life, rather than giving into what we're being given.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a technological takeover would certainly lead us in the direction of an Orwellian society. However, I don't think that technology alone will take us there - it's also the motivation behind the people who are controlling this technology. Part of the reason why there is so much more technology in the world today is because we have created a world that needs technology to be fixed - issues like climate change could be greatly aided if we directed our technological capabilities towards solving them. If we choose to ignore the primary issues and instead focus on controlling humans with technology, that is where we slip into Orwellian territory.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I have a few cousins who have had tablets/phones from a very young age, and they usually get insanely engrossed in their tablets. I think id probably get a flip phone for my kid until they are in at least middle school, because along with outside play I think that reading as a child was incredibly important in making me who I am.
ReplyDeleteI think that the TV things were such a major factor in allowing the government to monitor citizens so closely in 1984, so if we were to have an Orwellian takeover, technology would play a big part in monitoring. However, I also believe that technology allows us to spread information (for things like protests too), so it could also help prevent the takeover. But I do agree that overall, people are becoming so dependent on tech.
ReplyDeleteAs a young child, my parents also kept me far from technology! I learned about the newest toys and fads from friends as we talked about it on the playground (and somehow, everyone seemed to hate a certain "Justin Beaver"??)
ReplyDeleteAs we become aware of the world, we understand that there are things called ads and ad trackers and algorithms that try to keep you hooked on content. But, in the cases of young children, a deep dive on youtube is exactly what they don't need. Advertisement upon advertisement isn't what a developing mind should be consuming.
1984's big brother preys upon the weak and controls everyone who could possibly be smart enough to learn more. I can definitely see somewhat of a comparison to today's tech and little kids.
I think using technology to oppress is definitely one of the major factors, but there are others, such as oppressing free speech, etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about limiting household technology. I think it is more important to keep technology that might harm us or spy on us out of the reach of people who might want to use it for those reasons.
ReplyDeleteIn 1984, technology is used as a tool to brainwash and control people. Though technology definitely seems to have the effect of turning people into mindless zombies who are completely under its spell, the key thing here is that is no single totalitarian government trying to control them and alter their psychology through technology. Private entities take advantage of people's reliance on technology in order to influence them to do things (like buying products) or think a certain way, but people still have the option to avoid technology if they so choose, which is not the case for the people in 1984. We also have the internet, where we see a lot of people arguing over different issues. As long as people have an outlet to express their own opinions to the public, it is unlikely that the government would be able to make everyone have the same beliefs. If the government ever were to take complete control of the internet, however, silence protesters and dissenters, and erase records of the past, it's very likely that they would be able to use it as a tool for control and brainwashing, perhaps even more effectively than the telescreens in 1984. I agree that our increasing reliance on technology is a bad thing, but I'm inclined to believe that a BNW-type society is a more likely result of that than an Orwellian one, at least in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely many benefits of technology, and we have seen our world grow and so many crucial developments take form because of technology. But I agree that technology definitely does have its drawbacks and can have a substantial impact on a persons childhood.
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