Orwell fears a dictatorial state prohibits information (i.e. books) from reaching to public to keep it powerless. Whereas Huxley, writes of fearing that society will be amused by distractions, overwhelmed by loads of information and not realize that they are powerless. Postman’s foreword continues to show the correlation between his views and the possibilities of Huxley’s views. In Chapter 1 "The Medium is the Metaphor", Neil Postman (1985) writes about the decline from “ the Age of Typography" to ascended to the "Age of Television" (p.8).
With Friends Like These written by Tom Hodgkinson talks about the effect that Facebook has on the consumer. Throughout his writing Hodgkinson is very much against the use of the internet because it is an imaginary world that interconnects everyone without much effort than the use of a keyboard and mouse, everything only being a click away. He also continues to emphasize that there isn’t much effort being put into communicating and networking with others in person, putting us on the verge of losing that skill. Throughout his writing the author uses a serious tone that can come across as very negative as he speaks out against not only Facebook, but other big name companies such as Paypal, Coca-Cola and Blockbuster. The use of a descriptive example such as, “A friend of mine recently told me that he spent a Saturday night at home alone on Facebook, drinking at his desk.
In part one of Fahrenheit 451, Beatty explained his contempt for Clarisse's character. He criticized her lack of interest in the technological driven society and described her as "queer" (Bradbury 60) to separate her from the others living in their society. Beatty’s sanctioning of controlling how much knowledge a person can obtain also shows how technology can socially separate individuals. Beatty first explains the way people should be controlled. He says "Cram them full of noncombustible data [and] they'll get a sense of motion without moving" (Bradbury 61).
We cannot cover up the challenges of the world in attempt to hide all of the negatives. With more technology, we are seeing less and less printed scripts with each passing year. I feel Bradbury was mocking the technological advancements of today’s world. I feel that a certain amount of censorship is a good thing, on the other hand I think that too much can be a bad thing. If we cover up everything and act like there is no negative in the world we will never be challenged with new or opposing ideas and will never mature.
Miller believed that the shift in the American Dream, into one based entirely on the acquisition of material possessions, was derogatory to society as a whole; it was impossible for everyone to become 'successful' in 1950s America, yet the pressures of consumerism were nonetheless suffered by all. One of the main arguments against Willy being thought of as a tragic hero is that he doesn't undergo all of Aristotle's 'concepts of tragedy'. For example, Willy doesn't experiences a sudden reversal of fortune (Peripeteia) in the play. Though it could be argued that the omission of Peripeteia is to emphasise the hoplessness of Willy's situation with the intention of evoking pity from the audience, adding to the cathartic effect. This lack of sudden change wouldn't also fit in with the play's stark and down-to-earth style; demoralisation of a man is far more commonly a slow-acting process, and an attempt to adhere to Aristotle's decree would have been ultimately detrimental to Miller's fundamental aim for DoaS: to create a play relevant to 'every man' of his time.
Explain how death and dying have changed with the shift from premodern to post modern societies? According to some Death and Dying has evolved into a modern society of self denials around the issue of death. “From a psycological perspective individuals use denial as as a defence mechanism when confronted with events of a potentially tramatising nature” (Freud, 1940). It can be viewed that since death is no longer witnessed in modern lives that some have become afraid and would rather deny the reality of death. “The British socail anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer and the French historian Phillippe Aries are recognised as early proponents of the idea of the existence of death-denying societies” (Walter, 1991).
A wide range of tech savvy devices and gadgets have been invented for different purposes. Whilst each serves a particular purpose, they have the tendency to be misused and of abuse to people. Closed-Circuit television CCTV is an invention which partakes in 24 hour surveillance of particular areas, the every move of civilians in range is recorded. There are no current laws on the use of CCTV cameras, hence why it is often an invasion of privacy against individual human rights. A survey conducted illustrated that the lack of knowledge as to who had access to CCTV footage was an unsettling thought for the general public.
These are the things that we listen to and view in our own personal time. This category has more controversy over ratings and codes. Organizations like ESRB and MPAA have been founded to tell us what we should and shouldn’t watch, but can these people tell you or me what is right or wrong? Even large scale companies like Wal-Mart have tried to make their store “family friendly.” The recent Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown was refused by Wal-Mart because of the explicate lyrics of the songs. Since Green Day absolutely refused the censor their album it was not allowed to be sold in the store (Parks).
In these court hearings, some very embarrassing and damaging things had been exposed about Zuckerberg. Simply, the humble and nerdy computer programmer had not been so innocent and forthcoming as the reader was initially led to believe. Some AIM passages were quoted in the article, showing the reader a very compelling argument against the supposedly good character of Mark Zuckerberg. The author is unsympathetic towards Zuckerberg when he comments about the new Facebook movie that was soon to be released at the time. Vargas writes, “The movie is a scathing portrait, and the image of an unsmiling, insecure, and sexed-up young man will be hard to overcome.” This unrelenting image painted of Zuckerberg is not what he chose yet was forced upon him anyway, unlike every minutely controlled detail of a Facebook profile.
Fahrenheit 451: The Crumble of Intellect and Communication Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury describes a society that has lost almost all of its personal interactions to technology. The fear of feeling inferior has driven this society to accept the absence of knowledge. Guy Montag, the main character, discovers that the ban on knowledge and the shaming of awareness and critical thinking has collapsed all relationships, morals, and liberty. Bradbury foresees the destruction of individualism and freedom caused by restrictions on intellect, and the lack of communication. This prediction calls for a bleak future that does, in fact, draw parallels with censorship in modern society.