I believe that Orwell’s vision of the telescreens was very accurate, and it has become a reality in our everyday lives. Technology is everywhere, and it seems that we are never 10 feet away from any sort of technology at any given time. I think our phones are our type of telescreens. But the difference between our telescreens and Winstons telescreens is that they know that Big Brother is listening. They give us the ability to do anything and everything, they have turned from large, bulky, bricks to a slim, portable, miniature computers, having the world at your fingertips. It is also believed that our phones are actually listening to us as targeted ads and recommendations are very similar or exactly what we were thinking about. So, is our government doing exactly what Oceania is doing with the telescreens and just not telling us?
If we knew that our technology was listening to us, I think I would most definitely change my behavior. Even when I have my friends or people who know me, there is this still sense of not being myself. I would probably go crazy if I did not have a little alone time. Changing the way I react to certain things, always feel like I was being watched. When you feel like you are being watched, you feel a sense of those eyes on you, you want to stay quiet and not say anything. I kind of correlate not being alone to being followed. A pair of eyes on you makes you scared, a feeling that you cannot get away fast enough. I would feel more cautious about my everyday life. Being careful what I say and how I say it, just like Winston felt like during work. Have to watch out for those
If we knew that our technology was listening to us, I think I would most definitely change my behavior. Even when I have my friends or people who know me, there is this still sense of not being myself. I would probably go crazy if I did not have a little alone time. Changing the way I react to certain things, always feel like I was being watched. When you feel like you are being watched, you feel a sense of those eyes on you, you want to stay quiet and not say anything. I kind of correlate not being alone to being followed. A pair of eyes on you makes you scared, a feeling that you cannot get away fast enough. I would feel more cautious about my everyday life. Being careful what I say and how I say it, just like Winston felt like during work. Have to watch out for the possibility of thoughtcrime.
A possible advantage of having Big Brother watching was that we would all be in check. Everyone would be cautious about what they were doing, and I feel as if there would be less visible crime. Although the disadvantage of having less visible crime would be that people would have the desire to sneak around and avoid the law. There seems to be counterintuitive considering that the purpose of the telescreens listening to your every movement is that crime would be decreased. Other than crime, having smart technology that gives us personalized content is an advantage. We would not have to waste our time going through things that we would not want to have seen anyways. However, this could also be a disadvantage. Shows such as Black Mirror kind of shows us what smart technology would be like in our day in age and it’s kind of scary. Episodes such as “Crocodile” where an architect has kept a dark secret by killing and is eventually caught because of a special device used to scan memories. Things like that show us the dangers and scenarios of letting people in on our secret lives. In many ways, it can be seen as the show Black Mirror is our generations version of 1984, telling the future.
I believe that we are already monitored enough. I would allow just a little bit more monitoring, but not to the point where it feels like we’re being followed home. Even if the government told us that we would be more monitored, I would still not like knowing. They could do it for the safety of the country, but just dont tell us.
carina laukaitis 