Where Technology is Going and My Experience in Intro to Lit

There is much concern as to where our country is headed. Technology today is being accepted into every part of our lives. Sure we can see this as beneficial because it allows us to do more with less effort. However, when it begins to invade our privacy, those endless benefits begin to have an opportunity cost. That is,we begin to lose our most sacred rights like personal privacy which also effects our freedom. The video we watched in class on Tuesday shocked me as to what was available in terms of identification technology. I would have never thought a person could be identified with a retna scanner or that a micro chip could be implanted under your skin. This sounds awfully like M.T. Anderson's novel "Feed". I think the similarities between this world and that in "Feed" are becoming more alike all the time. These microchips could easily be used for other purposes like location tracking.
As I look back at the class, I realize how much I learned. I think it has opened my eyes and I realize just what I need to look out for. I've also learned the importance of reading books. I never knew that I might enjoy to read and also never thought I could sit down and read a hundred pages. I highly doubt that I will be looking at spark notes for just the plain facts when I can read the book and get the entire experience of it. Sure spark notes is good to clarify things but I clearly did not know what I was missing by not even bothering to read the book.

Fahrenheit 451 and Our Society

I really liked the book Fahrenheit 451 so much so that I added it to my favorite books on Facebook. A lot of good points are made in the book and they can all be connected to our world in one way or another. Obviously, book burning is the main one. The society of Fahrenheit 451 may seem a lot different in how things are run and how extreme the book burning is but it’s not far off actually. In fact, today book burning is a very serious problem. And although book burning in Fahrenheit 451 is the actual torching of books, it is this and more in our society. The editing and political correctness is our main form of book burning. If all the meaningful words are taken out of a book, the ones that make it mean one thing with them and another without them, you are changing that book. In essence you are ridding the book of it’s original meaning. This in its own way is ‘burning’ the book. Some authors of books have become so frustrated with this that they just recall their books, preventing the editing of them in the first place.
We can also look at political correctness in our society. By not being able to express things as they are, it can completely change their original meaning. We hear it on the news, when the president speaks, etc. You hear things like “the alleged attackers” and you say to yourself, “We know they were terrorists so why didn’t he just say that?” Personally, it drives me insane. Complicating things further by using more words makes things worse. It hides the truth from the people and pulls a mask over the public.
This is exactly what happens in Fahrenheit 451. By burning books, those ideas and the knowledge in them disappear. A limited range of thought is one that is more controllable. Fahrenheit 451’s society shows this as did other comparable societies in the books we read like “1984” and “Feed”.

Fahrenheit 451

Reading the book Fahrenheit 451 really made me think about what I was reading. After all, the book is about burning books, exactly what I am reading. So I found myself paying attention to exactly what I was reading. I found the descriptions of the burning books like on the first page where it said, “With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house”. This description to me actually sounded quite exciting. As somewhat of a pyro myself, I enjoy watching things burn, and starting fires. However, actually burning books, especially for what I see as no reason, seemed wrong to me. After all, they symbolize hope and life, and destroying such a thing is plain not right. Starting a fire for warmth, or even for pure entertainment, is fine. However, when you start to destroy books that other people have taken so long to put their thoughts into words in, things don’t work. Obviously there will be a problem. You can’t just start burning works of literature and expect there not to be a problem like revolt or rebellion. In this case of Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is the one revolting. However this is only after he meets Clarisse McClellen, a girl who is “17 and crazy”. She seems very odd, very innocent, but turns out to know more than anyone else even though she doesn’t go to school. Captain Beatty describes her as a queer, someone who just gets in the way of the good in the world. Her whole family seems to be like this. Guy Montag is amused by her personality and it’s what sparks interest in him and ‘wakes him up’.
So to sum up everything I’m saying, it’s wrong to burn books, and if you do, things are going to eventually erupt. It’s shown in this novel by Guy Montag who is influence by Clarisse. Though we may see this meeting of these two characters as coincidence, in a world like this, it is inevitable. And this is the case in the other novels we have read. In “Feed” we have Violet and Titus meet up on the moon. The same story is here. Violet and her thoughts get Titus thinking about just what kind of world he is living in. However, in the end , Violet dies, just like Clarisse does in “Fahrenheit 451”. Also in “1984”, though the outcome is not the same, we once again have two characters meeting. They are Julia and Winston. Though Winston had already had ideas of revolt, Julia expands these interests. Unfortunately for them both, they are tortured and nothing comes of the revolt. But as we can see from these relations to other novels we have read, when things like human thought and will are effected, the inevitable revolt comes to life.

"1984" today?

In our society there are a lot of issues concerning how much the government should get involved in our lives. We see what happens from the novel "1984" by George Orwell, when the government becomes too involved. From the book I got a sense of what it would be like to live under a government that has so much power. Thinking about how such a party could become in power in the first place boggled my mind. I think one thing this book shows is that the people of society need to remain educated and informed of the consequences of allowing a government to possess too much power.
I think there are some instances in our current life that connect to the "watching" in "1984". For example, the Patriot Act which was enacted under President Bush can be considered "watching". However, what most don't realize is that this program was designed to watch serious threats, and prevent them from harming innocent citizens. Regardless, a program like the Patriot Act could be taken to the extreme and to the point where even people who may be no threat at all, are spied on. Another way "1984" connects to our society is with the Telescreens in everyone's household. These are even hidden in some areas to catch those who don't think they are being watched. This is how Winston was caught and it is also how criminals today are caught. Because of the amount of technology today, it is hard to do something without there being some record of it. Hidden cameras are becoming more popular and though they do catch those doing wrong, you can't help but alter your behaviors in areas where you think your being spied upon. In for example, an airport, you would never want to say the word "bomb" at a tone of voice where other people could hear you. You also wouldn't want to look like your doing anything suspicious, as the security at airports is a very sensitive issue. Of course, situations like this don't occur everyday and we usually don't have a lot to worry about in our houses or in a mall. This was not the case in "1984" and of course in a time like that, you were so brainwashed that you did not realize the amount of rules you were obeying, nor did the greater population of Oceania have a desire to break them. A society like Oceania would be horrible and I think that if we don't fight for our rights and freedom, that problems could arise where we begin to restrict our actions on a more day to day basis. But I believe that we as human beings will not allow a party like the one in "1984" to ever take control.

1984

From everything I heard about the novel “1984”, nothing prepared me for actually reading it. The only phrase I knew from the book was, "Big Brother is watching you". So I figured, ok this is just a book about a society where your always being watched. However, it turned out to be much more than that.

George Orwell did an outstanding job making you feel how the main character, Winston did, and I found myself picturing living in a society like that of Oceania. I thought about the run-down apartment Winston lived in and how dark and cold it must have felt to him. I was very disgusted when I read about Winston's job of rewriting history so it said what the Party wanted it to say. It must be horrible to live in a society where you second guess every thought you have and are never sure of which memories are real and which ones are fake. To me this almost seems impossible as I don’t think I could ever betray the memories I have, especially when I know they were real.

One part of the book I found to particularly gruesome was when they had captured Winston. Obrien turned out to be a spy and turned him in. The torture methods he used on Winston sounded horrifying and I don't think anyone could hold out when you are threatened by someone who will let rats eat your face off if you do.

From this I got a sense of how horrible the government of the Party really was. Thinking about how such a party could become in power boggled my mind. I think one thing this book shows is that we as people need to remain educated and informed of the consequences of allowing a government to possess too much power. I think there are some instances in our current life that connect to the "watching" in "1984". Because of the amount of technology today, it is hard to do something without there being some record of it. However, I don't think we as human beings will allow a party like the one in "1984" to ever take control.

Feed

When I began reading the book "Feed" I was immediately drawn in by the unique language choice and that fact that for once, I had to interpret the language much like the elders of today have to do when they hear us speak. I liked how the book gave little details in the beginning so we had to use our imagination to picture the moon and what it would be like if we had the feed. In our imagination, I thought it sounded great. Look at an object and the feed brings up the specifications of it. Titus and his friends seemed very much like how we are today; only caring about ourselves, not worrying about the past or future, the laziness, etc. This made me reflect upon how our society is and similarities between them.

It is only when the kid's feeds get hacked that you start to realize how much better things are without the feed. They play a game in the hospital where they throw needles at a model of the human body. In my opinion they were having more fun than they ever did with the feed. This is when how I looked at the book changed. I immediately started to look at the negative impact of the feed, from the lack of social life to the fact that it can never turn off and if it does. . . you die. You have to wonder how corporations were able to come up with such a technology. Sure we love our computers and they certainly expand our horizon on what is possible to do without even moving, but do we really want them interfering with every part of our life?

There are serious problems in the world in "Feed" and we can only hope that things aren't taken that far. However, with the common sense that lacks in our government, it seems inevitable that our world could resemble that of "Feed".

The Dumbest Generation?

Though it seems logical to think that because all this technology can help us perform tasks easier, we are dumber, there is more to the argument. As technology keeps becoming more widely available to us, I believe we need additional skills to be able to use it. Just look at the jobs that have been created. Instead of having to buy or inconveniently find a newspaper to read, which again in my opinion, few under the age of thirty would do, we can set Google news as our homepage and get those headlines the second we start up an internet browser. Its convenient and because everything is right there, some of us might actually take advantage of this.

However, I have to agree with some of what Mark Bauerlein said in "The Dumbest Generation". I think he was spot on when he said how much our generation is only interested in each other. Surveys don't lie and the facts show that our generation is falling behind. But you have to ask yourself, how is this my fault? In my opinion it is the parent's responsibility to educate their sons and daughters of culture, arts, history, so that their children have some knowledge before they enter public education. This leads me to my next point. Though some parents may be at fault, clearly our public education system needs a revising. You barely need to try anymore in high school to pass and the only reason to be in high school is to get out of it. This is even true in college which most kids go to just to get a degree. Few actually pay thousands a year because they want to learn something. We basically only care about what we think is important.

Ads

Modern day advertising is not just about selling a product but is about selling the image along with it. Though we may forget what that Calvin Klein ad said about the jeans, we will remember the image it was projecting. This image is stored in our subconscious and is what makes us buy those jeans or ‘outfit’ as we try to become that image. The problem here is that it is almost impossible. The people shown in fashion advertisements can all be described as perfect, something only achievable in what is known as ‘fantasy land’.There are also issues with how women in advertisements are displayed. They are constantly seen as ‘sex objects’, non-human, and only there for the sake of men’s entertainment. The demoralization of women is also being shown in modern ads. Rarely do you see an ad where the woman is looking down on the man. It is almost always the opposite.

Electronics in our World

It seems nowadays, that separation from the world is impossible. This is obviously due to the involvement of technology in our lives. Almost every one of us has some sort of electronic device that can communicate to others not directly around us, whether it be a cell phone, laptop, or even the navigation system in your car. These devices all interfere with our lives whether it is beneficial or the opposite. When we text a friend, would there face to face presence be preferred or would you rather have that twenty minute conversation with your cell phone, where gestures and facial expressions don't exist?

Other devices such as gaming consoles also have a major impact on our social lives. Instead of actually doing things like playing football or soccer, you invite friends over so you sit around a TV and play these games in a virtual world. Is this preferred or would the actual experience of going outside be the better choice? Sure there are some skills that are needed to play this virtual game such as hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes, but clearly, this cannot take the place of actual physical interaction with friends. But sadly this is what our society is becoming victim too, the loss of interaction with people and none of us are spared.

This problem is mentioned in “Culture Jam” where the idea of never being able to escape technology and the media is clear. Though it might not be as extreme as what is described in the novel, we are certainly seeing effects of technology spread throughout our society. This technology is what Kalle Lasn calls “noise”. We all experience this “noise” because most of us have never lived a day without our iPod, TV, computer or cell phone.