Orwell's Surprise - Are We Big Brother?

in cryptogee-musings •  7 years ago  (edited)

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When your name becomes an adjective, you know you have made an impact on the world. The word Orwellian, describes a society bound to the shackles of governmental misinformation.

Wars are falsified, the enemy of yesterday is the friend of today, and the friend the enemy. Plain speaking has been swapped for doublespeak and newspeak. Confusion is the prime mover in a society that is wrought with secrecy and treachery alike.

George Orwell painted a grim picture in his 1930s book Nineteen Eighty Four.

By the time 1984 actually came around, perhaps some could say that we were indeed heading for the dystopian nightmare portrayed in Orwell's masterpiece. We had a situation whereby our media was being controlled by a small group of people, and we were still in the grips of the Cold War.

However that was before the internet . . .

A Gambit For Orwell

I have always been fascinated about certain tools we humans invent, that at once becomes our panacea and our poison.

The internet was the ultimate cure to the Orwellian society. You see, Orwell saw that the key factor when considering the mass control of the populace, was to control the news that people received.

By controlling the media you can literally tell people what to think, about whoever, whatever, and however.

Then came the thing that Orwell didn't see coming, a world wide web of information flowing through an internet of computer servers, accessible to all.

Surely the internet is the panacea to the poison of Orwell's society, with the web, no longer was the dissemination of general news and information in the hands of the so very few.

The Cure Is The Disease

It turns out though, that the very thing that has allowed us to break free from the prison of partisan news coverage, in now in danger of becoming a conduit for the insidious, society-rotting poison that Orwell so warned us about.

This is because getting your news from the internet, is like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant. We are creating petabytes of information everyday, gushing out faster than the speed of thought.

With this comes confusion, the key component in the Orwellian society. However this time there is no they, this time the they, is us.

It may be easy to offer a riposte to this argument by saying things along the lines of; big corporations still run the media, and governments still lie, etc. etc.

However they are no longer in control, a politician wanting to cover up a story in the past, may well have (and might still do) get a super injunction, basically a great big legal club to beat the mainstream media with. Stopping them printing the story, for fear of getting sued into the next century, and possibly imprisoned too.

Super injunctions simply do not work on a random person on Twitter who witnesses an event, photograph's it, shares it, and then watch it go viral.

User generated content isn't just about entertainment, it's about our news too.

You know a genre is taking over, when the previous genre starts to refer to it.

I'm sure you've watched news items on TV whereby they talk about what somebody said on Twitter; right?

So in other words; if we are the ones creating most of the news, then we are the ones creating most of the confusion; which then begs the question;

Are We Big Brother?



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Fake Newspeak

Orwell described newspeak as a language of restricted grammar and limited vocabulary. A linguistic design, meant to limit the freedom of thought, personal identity, self-expression, and free will that ideologically threatens the regime of Big Brother.

Maybe that description above describes the extreme left Social Justice Warrior, who attempts to restrict use of certain words and terms for fear of causing offence?

Or perhaps it is the extreme right Alt Right Crusader who tries to restrict the use of certain terms that spread an ideology that threatens a perceived status quo?

Perhaps it is both, and the rest of us combined, maybe Orwell was wrong, it isn't they who will destroy our wills through subjugation.

We have created a world of Post Truth, one where we are the arbiters of our own confusion. It is the very information that we so willingly share and propagate that will bring us down.

Is this the last irony of Big Brother; that his dystopian vision is no longer needed; that we have become the arbiters of our own confusion, he can finally rest easy leaving the downfall of society in our very own more than capable hands?

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS THE ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE COMING TRUE, AND IS IT OF OUR OWN DOING? IF SO, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION, WHERE WILL IT END?

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Cryptogee

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Wow! You certainly served up a buffet of food for thought. I certainly see the potential of internet users becoming big brother. Particularly, If people resteem, retweet, or share information because it is trending without adding to the conversation. Often the solution is to wipe the offensive matter from our minds and history.

Or indeed without thinking about what they are sharing in the first place. . .

Cg

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I'm thinking Orwellian is an adjective rather than a verb. Since we're talking about truth and freedom of thought, I thought I'd express my view of the truth on this! :) But I'm not a linguist and I will defer to authority if presented with compelling arguments based on facts and reason.

I do see the internet as a place where people can find their confirmation biases and have them reinforced. It's easy to enter the echo chamber where all the ideas are the ones you already have. But on Twitter, FB, here - I do very often see opposing opinions in the comments/replies and if one is the least bit open minded, they will be able to consider other points of view.

So the solution is to realize that none of us should be 100% convinced that we are right on all our thoughts. Once we realize this, if we want to better ourselves, and have a truer perception of the real world, we have to be open to new information that can change our existing world view. Once we agree that it is good to be open to new information, the next step is to seek it out. Find sources of information we do not currently visit, and give them a chance to make their point.

Finally, I don't think we're heading for a nightmare. I mean, I think the probability of it is less than projected. It could always happen in ways we do not even consider yet. I think the News and social media have the same attribute of spreading more bad news than is statistically happening, because If It Bleeds, It Leads. News has to sell commercials and Tweeters/FBers/Steemers have to capture people's attention. People are just more likely to look in on bad news than good news.

The good news, according to Harvard University Psychology Professor Steven Pinker, is that the world is becoming a better place over time. This is presented with lots of data in his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature. Of course this upward trend is the same as the Bitcoin chart; it has many dips. New technology is a double edged sword that can be used in bad or good ways, and often both at the same time. But the good is outweighing the bad, in my opinion, and Pinker's opinion if I am characterizing his thoughts accurately!.

Thanks for the inspiration that lead to these random thoughts. Have a great day!

There are some very interesting ideas presented in the article. I do think that we, at times, are being Big Brother in a sense. However, I would not put all the blame on us. I think our social compass is governed by latent forces (ie. lobbying groups, celebrities) and the public merely blindly follows this trend, leading us to encourage "newspeak".

I also wrote an article analyzing our society, specifically how we turn children into disastrous wrecks through entertainment. I would love to hear what you think! Danielle Bregoli (Catch me Outside) is the New Shirley Temple 🍭

Honestly, I am very happy to read your article, you create an exciting content that can make me relax reading it, can you visit my blog ?? @umar97

Votes and resteemit done

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Orwell's 1984 book is actually a masterpiece. The nightmare might become a reality. Thanks @cryptogee

Actually most people tend to choose the comfort of believing what is easy to believe, thinking what others want them them to think over the effort of drawing their own conclusions. We give up our own privacy to gain more and more comfort. We are addicted to the process of simplifying everything and ignore the consequences of our actions. We have to be willing to give up just a little bit of comfort to save our own future and we have to start thinking about what we contribute to our digital world.

I find a big part of the whole misinformation saga is due to people being inherently lazy.
They hear news from somewhere and, instead of taking the time to research if its true(Something that you often need to do these days) they'll either blindly trust or believe it and spread this belief, whether right or wrong, or be those that simply distrust everything they hear.

If nothing else I find that our overwhelming access to information makes the spread of misinformation far easier and convenient.

I know not of any cure or ways to help this Orwellian dilemma, but I think the transparency of blockchains and community(s) like Steemit are a step in the right direction. A small step, yes, but accountability does wonders when it comes to causing people to care about the quality and truthfulness of what they post.

I see both the Orwellian, and a brave new world happening simultaneously.

Someone might live their life in such a way where they become an enemy of the state. An example would be Edward Snowden, he did a great service in leaking the information about illegal spy programs that government(s) are abusing. Pretty soon, technology will catch up and seize back a sizeable chunk of privacy that had been lost while the people slumbered.

Then you’ve got people who will indulge themselves daily with the soma of their choice. Weed, Alcohol, Opiates, etc.. It’s really quite possible to live in either world, or both, or neither. Is it a particle or a wave? For the most part, it’s whatever anyone chooses at any given moment.

SJW’s are funny though, they'll act out all Orwellian part of the time, but on the weekends they go full blown orgy porgy at their furry conventions dressed as cats and dogs while f#cking like rabbits. Damn, gonna have to wash my mind out with soap after that one. “Zhir, Zhir, you will address me as ‘here boy!’, and throw me a bone once in a while. Or else you’re a racist, misogynist, cynophobe!”

I started writing post here, and is getting bigger and bigger...
So, I will just say Meltdown and Spectre... Everyone is feeling safe after software update?
Just keep it that way..
;)