Orson Wells: telling it like it is (Blog #2)

"We must begin to say 'no' to certain kinds of technology and to begin to control technological change because we've now reached the point that technology is so powerful and so rapid that it could destroy us unless we control it."

Something that really stuck out to me in Orson Well's Future Shock was the idea of a "premature arrival of the future".  It really reminded me of George Orwell's 1984.  In this groundbreaking novel, Orwell explores a society in which technology is prevalent, and ultimately invasive in society; a society that is built around a technologically advanced government that sees and knows everything.  

The themes in 1984 are very similar to the themes mentioned on Future Shock.  The idea that there's way too much change in so short a time that to an extent it is out of control.  This film, in a sense, terrified me.  Considering it was made in the '70's and it was already recognising that the world was moving too fast.  

In the past few years we have heard about new security cameras being set up in cities like London.  Cameras placed at every street corner, and buildings, and even bathrooms, in an effort to minimize crime.  But there was an uproar about invasion of privacy and how these cameras should be taken down.  Talk of it turning into Orwell's "Big Brother".  Yes, these cameras did minimize crime, but it made the public feel ill at ease, so was it really worth it?

There has also been talk, in fact it was briefly mentioned in Future Shock, of being able to use technology in science to, in a sense, "build your own baby".  Using genetics, it could be possible for expecting parents to mess with the genetics of their child to, say, prevent disabilities from occurring.  I'm sure some people think this is awesome, but me?  That's wrong.  Letting technology interfere with the natural order of things is going too far.  

We have so many incredible resources at our fingertips, but when will we realise when it's gone too far?  Will we ever realise?  Could our most groundbreaking invention be our ultimate downfall?  Only time will tell.  But I'd really like to see time slow down for a while, so we can live this life as fully as we can.  And I'm not necessarily sure that building babies is the right way to live.


Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Penguin, 2000.