Who says you can’t correctly predict the future? Aldous Huxley and George Orwell did. Hear Neil Postman:
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 bumble-puppy. 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.
None of what they feared is mutually exclusive. All sides are present today. We are a captive culture (Madison Avenue). We are a trivial culture (the television programs the public prefers). So on for the other fears.
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 bumble-puppy. 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.
None of what they feared is mutually exclusive. All sides are present today. We are a captive culture (Madison Avenue). We are a trivial culture (the television programs the public prefers). So on for the other fears.
(Quoted from page 80 of Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman. Penguin, 1985.)
For a brief biography of Neil Postman, click here. For images of and relating to Neil Postman, click here. To watch Neil Postman for two minutes presenting his idea of education as a cure for stupidity, click here. For a brief biography Aldous Huxley, click here. For a brief biography of George Orwell, click here.
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