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Role Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

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Intro
In our modern society, technology is all around us, but most people fail to acknowledge the many negative ways it impacts our lives. Many science fiction novels such as Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, provide insight and warnings to future generations through their predictions and themes. In the book Fahrenheit 451, the author shows the horrible effects of television and electronics on people's lives. In that society, people are forbidden to read books, which results in no one having meaningful conversation with one another, and all everyone wants to do is watch their television, preventing them from real human interactions. The main character, Guy Montag, slowly rethinks his outlook on his society and begins to realize the ignorance …show more content…

Many of Bradbury’s concerns, such as privacy issues, have become a reality. Some communities have begun adopting a new form of technology which monitors people's electronics and "can also capture texts, calls, emails and other data, and prosecutors have received court approval to use it for such purposes" (Richtel). People are not given the information needed to understand how invasive this technology really is, causing many privacy concerns for people. In addition to authorities starting to invade your privacy, private corporations have also begun raising many privacy concerns. One smart television company told its customers to "be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party" (Newman). This invasion of people's privacy raised many concerns, and eventually became a reality when "when hackers demonstrated the ability to take over televisions with built-in cameras and microphones" (Newman). Even though the creators of this technology may not have meant for this to happen, this device has caused a great deal of both privacy concerns and even safety for some. As well as the privacy concerns it causes, technology has also begun to impair people's social skills. One person noticed "dozens of people riding the subway, deeply absorbed in their smartphones, oblivious to the world around them. They all seem much more comfortable interacting with their devices than with one another" (Wortham). Although some people believe their phones make them much more efficient workers and help with long distance communication, many can argue that the constant distractions because of the pings, notifications, and messages can prevent people from focusing in the task at hand and interacting with the world around the mall (Wortham).

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