Technology And Human Freedom In Doctorow's Little Brother

As we invest our lives into the allurements of the Internet, our privacy has stowed itself into the relative anonymity of vast city populations. But these precious moments of privacy, hidden in the over abundance of lives and routines, will soon be threatened by facial recognition technology (Frey 2016). Any negative connotations surrounding surveillance is reciprocated by the Orwellian dystopia which is popular for its pessimistic perspective. Although these visions of a restrictive surveillance state are just fictional ambiguous representations, their concerns should not be easily dismissed (Richards 2013). Subconsciously, derived from Orwell’s ideas, we recognize privacy’s role in the effort to avoid dehumanizing a country, however, according to Neil Richards (2013, 1934), “we lack an understanding of what ‘privacy’ means in this context and why it matters”. It is most critical that we address these questions now as facial recognition technology becomes increasingly prominent in our everyday lives.

Fear is inevitably tied to the common saying “I am watching you”. When one’s actions are constantly monitored and privacy being relentlessly invaded, the individual soon will possess a sort of fear. In the novel Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, the government uses surveillance as a tool for exploiting the privacy of the people which then engages their fear.

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”(Orwell 2), is a saying that surrounds society in the classic novel 1984. The author, George Orwell provides his audience with an abundant amount of themes throughout his writing. One very prominent one is Orwell’s psychological manipulation of his characters. As characters within this society are constantly surrounded by sayings such as, “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”, and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”(Orwell 4), Orwell shows the ultimate type of control within his characters. Orwell is able to achieve such psychological manipulation in his characters through physical control and the abundance of technology. Without Orwell’s use of telescreens, his characters would be able to have their

Everyday technology is advancing and has become part of people’s everyday life, from phones, cars, computers, and even the light switches in a room. With all this technology, it would be easy to use it for other things then what they were intended for. For example what if someone wanted to control what another person could do such as sleeping or going places. It would not not be that hard to try and control another human being, or even worse being watched every single moment of everyday for the rest of their life. That idea is not as farfetched as it may seem now with even more phones, computers, televisions and cameras in general. Technology is taking humanity nearer and nearer to world of Big Brother and the worse part is that if they are not careful, Big Brother could raise without any citizen ever knowing.

In today's culture, people use technology to their advantage all the time. They use it to hack, to learn the latest gossip, or to see breaking news around the world. But, occasionally they get captivated and instead of an accessible apparatus, it becomes a necessity and a lifestyle. In the story, The Veldt, Ray Bradbury uses imagery, symbolism, and internal conflict to express that misuse of technology can lead to unforeseen disadvantages.

Developed in the 1960s, facial recognition technology has been used by the government and companies to identify people by matching them to photos. The data for this software was originally entered manually, limiting the scope of use. By 2001, the novelty of more powerful facial recognition technology grasped the public’s attention. During the January 2001 Super Bowl, surveillance cameras captured images to find people with a criminal record (FBI 2013). This potential invasion of privacy under the pretense of public safety sparked a public debate about what private information the government was allowed to take from us. So should we be putting limitations on the use of facial recognition software in America in order to keep

Technological dystopias have become a common setting within writings, due to the technological advancements society continuously makes each year. The future can never be certain, and as humans progressively advance, so does the fear that people lose control over their creations. Two recently created dystopias rely on the development of technology as the destruction of society, as through the invasion of privacy. The Circle by David Eggers and “The Entire History of You”, episode three of season one of Black Mirror focus on the societal impact of advancing technology, and the potential destruction of privacy due to it. The technology developed desensitizes human connection and interactions, which is what is beginning to happen within

The prophetic nightmare of George Orwell gives us many warnings that are becoming increasingly true in our modern society; however, among all of the auguries and prediction none rival his warning about the severity of our reliance on technology. He shows us the dangers of technology through the protagonist Winston’s eyes. The prophecies in this novel are ones that we need to head in today’s society. With apparent advancements in technology we have begun to fall down the same awful Orwellian spiral, loosing to technology our privacy and thought.

In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, oppression is the jail that imprisons man—and technology is its warden. “For Orwell,” writes comparative literature professor John Frodsham, “Nature was essentially good and technology essentially evil. Technology in Nineteen Eighty-Four is used to enslave men, not liberate them. The telescreen, the speakwrite, the helicopter…the book-writing machine on which Julia labors, and all the rest of the technological paraphernalia of the novel exist only to aggrandize the power of the state and violate human nature.”

Technology, the advancement of knowledge and productivity through the application of tools, information, and techniques to create an effortless process, has ultimately lead to the declination of our society and our future. In “A Thing Like Me,” Nicholas Carr addresses the development of technology from the day it was created and how it initiated an immediate impact within the lives of humans leading to an unhealthy dependency. Carr establishes how technology, what was intended to be a tool, has become the “pacifier” of our generation. This “pacifier” causes a loss of freedom, not through the laws of the government, but rather with the values of freedom one holds within themselves. This freedom is the individuality that distinguishes each person from the next, and forms a desire for the development of oneself through the experiences of life and the wisdom that is acquired along the way. Technology has blinded man from this pursuit of self-enhancement and with the advancement of technology occurring daily, there is no resolution. Each day people are confined within themselves and the pieces of technology that will continually limit them in their lives. Freedom is more than just a concept of laws instilled by the government, it is the thought process found within each individual person and their “hunger” to become more. With technology, social media was created and immediately immersed within our lives. The society of today has

Every day we are surrounded by technology such as phones and computers. While we know that technology can help us to improve and advance our society, it still has a downfall. When daily tasks get easier, people get lazier. In Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, technology is everywhere; fast cars, interactive homes, mechanical hounds, and the parlor walls. Technology can be used to make life easier, they can emphasize human characteristics of distraction, censorship, and ignorance, which could be potentially harmful for society.

The political party in the city always have telescreens up in place to monitor people's behavior and their members from place to place. Hidden microphones are also put up in order to hear anything anyone says, which might be against the party and its laws. This ubiquitousness of technology, really limits people privacy, and contributes to the fear and psychological influencing of people, which contributes to the party's success. This use of technology exemplifies, technology emerging from good to bad, and how technology has the ability to be used against humans, much like a weapon.  This is also the case today; technology is becoming more and more momentous and frequent.  Even though technology is made for the benefit of humans to lessen the burden in everyday activities, it unknowingly also has ramifications. For example, sending text messages is creating a lager gap between oral talking skills and writing skills, which is hindering confidence in an individual. 1984 presents an idea that technology is commonly perceived with doing noble good, but equally can facilitate doing

To begin, the use of technology is pervasive in the society. The human population is still ambivalent as if technology has made their life easier or has disturbed it. As society advances in technology, it is being used against us and this is shown in 1984, Brazil, as well as in the article. In 1984, every open space in society is covered with telescreens and microphones. The citizens are shown images of the text, “Big Brother Is Watching You” (Orwell 2) on their telescreens every second. The minds of citizens are being infiltrated using Big Brother’s message. Also, in 1984 technology is used against the citizens. As it says in 1984, “The thing that is in Room 101 ….. is the worst thing in the world” (Orwell 283). It is known to the citizens that in room 101, they will face their worst fear. The telescreens and microphones help the government to find out the citizens’ worst fears and then it is used against them if they act against the

Cultural critics have long lamented the fall of public intellectualism. Social philosophy preaches the perils of a public enamored with technology. George Orwell’s 1984 examines the growing role of technology in modern life. Orwell frightens readers by conjuring a world of repressed freedoms and constant surveillance. However, an even more sinister danger lurks in the shadows of the Orwellian future. The public overlooks the dilemma that arises when all technology is thought to be transparent: one day no one will care to fight it. Instead, Aldous Huxley, with A Brave New World, paints a future in which no one cares to read a book or challenge the existing system. The presence of entertainment in all learning and the inherent content bias of any medium affirm Huxley’s vision as the more relevant picture of society.

The Private Eye explores society's views on technology by contradicting what the reader may expect with its portrayal of a society that is strongly opposed to, and fears, current world views and attitudes towards technology. Fear drove the people of The Private Eye in a whole new direction technologically with it’s use of masks and other appearance changing devices and, while it would be easy to say this is true because it’s practical in their world, there’s more to it in a way that mirrors today’s thoughts on technology and its potentials. The people of the story gravitate towards what they know and, while accepting some new technologies like futuristic masks, reject anything that breaks the rules of what they think is human.