Beautifully written, love a good sci-fi reference. But I think this binary view of being on or off social media only gets us so far. The Matrix films illustrate this nicely: In Reloaded, the city of the unplugged (Zion) turns out to have been endorsed by the machines. It exists because they discovered that allowing a controlled rebellion gave the system more stability. The illusion of escape stopped people from questioning the system itself and the fact that the machines just kept reloading it. With that in mind, logging off or rejecting social media entirely might feel like resistance, but it doesn’t change the system that keeps pulling us back in. In Revolutions, Neo chooses to break the cycle. He negotiates peace with the machines, not by destroying them, but by changing the terms of engagement. I think we should think less about simply unplugging from social media and more about reshaping our digital experience into something constructive, that actually serves us. As you say, we have a choice. I think the real battle is whether we choose to move beyond the convenience of the popular platforms and towards the inconvenience of the decentralised alternatives that give us more autonomy and empowerment.
I read 1984 first as a teenager and then Brave New World in my late teens. BNW horrified me in ways that 1984 didn’t.
I thought about this over the years and throughout my Psychology undergrad years.
My conclusion? In 1984 the enemy was in front of Winston , even though he was to inevitable lose he could fight back in his small way. BNW offers no such hope - only the “lunatic” from outside could see the real insanity of a society where one’s position was cemented before birth and born into a world where one can never see the class system nor understand there might be a reason to smash it - utter nihilism as the self dissolves into a meaningless existence.
This is a great piece. I'm currently reading P. D. James' "Children of Men", and you've reminded me here of a line in the book: the "benign" dictator of Britain, Xan Lyppiatt, "had always known the wisdom of giving people a choice in matters where choice was unimportant." I've long believed that the freedom offered to consumers is really a cage that keeps us trapped in the inability to pay attention to what truly matters.
You may find Josh Meyrowitz’s No Sense of Place a rewarding read. His thesis is that as we articulate our identity more and more through digital media, we lose our sense of self. No place is this effect more noticeable than in our sense of place or belonging. The digital landscape acts as a force of erasure to our sense of place in the real world. But he doesn’t stop there.
Meyrowitz does a tremendous job of detailing how the digital world impacts our understanding of and expression of our most human qualities. It’s a shocking read.
I would say that we are moving from George Orwell’s 1984—where people are controlled through pain and oppression (and still are in many parts of the world)—to Aldous Huxley’s world, where control is maintained through pleasure and distraction.
In especially liberal democracies, authorities don’t rule with fear but with gratification, making people, in Huxley’s words, “love their servitude."
The ruling class of the digital age no longer relies on brute force, instead, they control the masses by drowning them in an endless stream of pleasurable diversions, keeping them entertained, complacent, and unaware.
The consciousness that the people pushing all this to you care nothing about your well-being, but that you would stay engaged for as long as ever, has to be among the most disturbing things. But will we ever wake up.
This is so beautifully said Ewan, we need such emphatic reminds every step of the way.
Ewan, you have beautifully expressed an argument that has been rolling around in my head for some time. I wonder if you also know of Charles Cooley and the idea of the "Looking Glass Self"? This is from long before social media, but it's a human tendency that social media exploits perfectly and I believe sits alongside the Huxleyian aspects of our current disquiet.
Great piece of writing, thank you
Beautifully written, love a good sci-fi reference. But I think this binary view of being on or off social media only gets us so far. The Matrix films illustrate this nicely: In Reloaded, the city of the unplugged (Zion) turns out to have been endorsed by the machines. It exists because they discovered that allowing a controlled rebellion gave the system more stability. The illusion of escape stopped people from questioning the system itself and the fact that the machines just kept reloading it. With that in mind, logging off or rejecting social media entirely might feel like resistance, but it doesn’t change the system that keeps pulling us back in. In Revolutions, Neo chooses to break the cycle. He negotiates peace with the machines, not by destroying them, but by changing the terms of engagement. I think we should think less about simply unplugging from social media and more about reshaping our digital experience into something constructive, that actually serves us. As you say, we have a choice. I think the real battle is whether we choose to move beyond the convenience of the popular platforms and towards the inconvenience of the decentralised alternatives that give us more autonomy and empowerment.
I read 1984 first as a teenager and then Brave New World in my late teens. BNW horrified me in ways that 1984 didn’t.
I thought about this over the years and throughout my Psychology undergrad years.
My conclusion? In 1984 the enemy was in front of Winston , even though he was to inevitable lose he could fight back in his small way. BNW offers no such hope - only the “lunatic” from outside could see the real insanity of a society where one’s position was cemented before birth and born into a world where one can never see the class system nor understand there might be a reason to smash it - utter nihilism as the self dissolves into a meaningless existence.
This is a great piece. I'm currently reading P. D. James' "Children of Men", and you've reminded me here of a line in the book: the "benign" dictator of Britain, Xan Lyppiatt, "had always known the wisdom of giving people a choice in matters where choice was unimportant." I've long believed that the freedom offered to consumers is really a cage that keeps us trapped in the inability to pay attention to what truly matters.
Thanks Matthew! Will check that out - would recommend Byung-Chul Han's The Burnout Society on this paradoxical freedom
Thank you, I've just gone and bought myself a copy!
I'll add another two examples to this excellent one:
The parasitism of humans by the digital in "Hyperion" (Dan Simmons)
And the loss of individuality of the 'hive humans' in "World Walkers" by Neal Asher
Thanks, will check them out!
You may find Josh Meyrowitz’s No Sense of Place a rewarding read. His thesis is that as we articulate our identity more and more through digital media, we lose our sense of self. No place is this effect more noticeable than in our sense of place or belonging. The digital landscape acts as a force of erasure to our sense of place in the real world. But he doesn’t stop there.
Meyrowitz does a tremendous job of detailing how the digital world impacts our understanding of and expression of our most human qualities. It’s a shocking read.
Thanks will check it out!
I would say that we are moving from George Orwell’s 1984—where people are controlled through pain and oppression (and still are in many parts of the world)—to Aldous Huxley’s world, where control is maintained through pleasure and distraction.
In especially liberal democracies, authorities don’t rule with fear but with gratification, making people, in Huxley’s words, “love their servitude."
The ruling class of the digital age no longer relies on brute force, instead, they control the masses by drowning them in an endless stream of pleasurable diversions, keeping them entertained, complacent, and unaware.
Whew, the “cell phone is our soma” comparison makes me wanna skip it across a lake smh
This article is so profound- chilling
The consciousness that the people pushing all this to you care nothing about your well-being, but that you would stay engaged for as long as ever, has to be among the most disturbing things. But will we ever wake up.
This is so beautifully said Ewan, we need such emphatic reminds every step of the way.
Thank you.
Thanks Henry!
Hat tip to Neil Postman as well.
Yes! This is the exact point Postman makes in Foreword to Amusing Ourselves to Death. Derived from this?
Good write. Disagree.
More words make case better. Agree?
Ewan, you have beautifully expressed an argument that has been rolling around in my head for some time. I wonder if you also know of Charles Cooley and the idea of the "Looking Glass Self"? This is from long before social media, but it's a human tendency that social media exploits perfectly and I believe sits alongside the Huxleyian aspects of our current disquiet.
Thanks Tom! Yeah for sure, will definitely write something on this impact on our self-perception in the future!