Neil Postman: The vision for future (Essay Sample)

Neil Postman: The vision for future
All human beings operate within particular social frameworks. In an explicit attempt to broaden the understanding of social contexts in the contemporary societies, people have varying opinions and views on the social fundamentals that take part in shaping individuals’ lives. Neil Postman, a contemporary social critic, analyzes the prophesies on the future vision poised by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley in their novels "1984" and "Brave New World" respectively. His basic assertion is that the Huxley’s vision has more relevance in the today’s world compared to Orwell’s. Although that is debatable, the Huxley’s views present a reflection of the today’s society.
Orwell argues that in the future people will be engulfed by the oppression from external sources. However, that is not the case in the present society. The widespread literacy and information access has increased human interconnection making it difficult for oppression to thrive. This is in support for the Huxley’s argument that the future generation will love oppression rather than hating it. He adds that people will love technologies to an extent that their individual thinking capacities will be narrowed. This is true as the present man relies on technology so much that even simple tasks that require less thinking are viewed as nightmares. For instance, the introduction of scientific calculators in schools has greatly affected the mental development and intellectual growth of students. The simple mathematical problems that require ones wit to unravel the answer are often done using calculators. This has generated a breed of kids that are shallow thinkers and less creative compared to the past generations. The Orwell’s argument that the future generation will be composed of people who would ban books does not reflect the current situation. The introduction of e-learning is a perfect example of people’s unwillingness to read books. The society is undergoing a rapid transformation from paper to paperless transaction. In this regard, the views of Huxley are more applicable today.
The world has become a global village where there is free flow of information and resources. The technological innovation has undeniably been the foundation of globalization. Human beings are increasingly becoming the channels through which information flow is highly activated. According to Huxley, the current generation suffers from passivity and egoism. These are the outcomes of society that exhibit an immense freedom of access of information. Thus, the Orwell’s assertion that there would be deprivation of information is not premised on any valid explanation. Similarly, there are many methods and channels for which one can obtain any kind of information that he or she requires. The Orwell prophesy that the truth will be cancelled from people by the government or any other authority is not true. The freedom mass media have played a pivotal role in creating awareness to the public. Civil rights activities have successfully eradicated the challenge of censorship that most government use against media houses. In addition, the emergence of social media and the internet have proved to be effective in ensuring that the public gets the necessary information without restrictions. Huxley supports this by claiming that there would be no need for anyone to attempt hiding of any kind of truth because it would be irrelevant.
Orwell predicted that the future society would suffer from the captivity of culture. He suggested that people would unanimously adore the cultural doctrines of their respective societies. He continued that there would be a widespread manipulation of people as a result of the distorted perceptions of the reality. However, this unrealistic in the present world. This is because the challenges fac...