Forwarded from RaGoose
Most of us will read this and continue living our life exactly the same way as before …wake up
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions”. In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right
Source : [Neil Postman – Amusing ourselves to death]
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions”. In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right
Source : [Neil Postman – Amusing ourselves to death]
On the Path of Knowledge
Amusing ourselves to death
This is perhaps one of the most striking passages I have read for a while. It describes the modern world with startling accuracy. In our fear of an increasingly authoritarian rule, we have allowed …
In this age of information abundance and overload, those who get ahead will be
the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s
really important to them. Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless
possibilities. The idea that you can do anything is absolutely terrifying.
the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s
really important to them. Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless
possibilities. The idea that you can do anything is absolutely terrifying.
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The way to get over creative block is to simply place some constraints on
yourself. It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations
mean freedom. Write a song on your lunch break. Paint a painting with only one
color. Start a business without any start-up capital. Shoot a movie with your
iPhone and a few of your friends. Build a machine out of spare parts. Don’t
make excuses for not working—make things with the time, space, and materials
you have, right now.
yourself. It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations
mean freedom. Write a song on your lunch break. Paint a painting with only one
color. Start a business without any start-up capital. Shoot a movie with your
iPhone and a few of your friends. Build a machine out of spare parts. Don’t
make excuses for not working—make things with the time, space, and materials
you have, right now.
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"sarge? I thought you was dead"
"i aint got time to be dead"
- mini militia
"i aint got time to be dead"
- mini militia
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