Ever since the beginning of time, Man's lifelong quest is to improve himself, and to improve his status. What better way to do this than to attempt to imitate God?
Due to the rapid pace it is progressing at, technology is beginning to put this ability in our hands. It was made to improve our society and overall standard of living – why shouldn't we use it for its intended purposes? There are so many new technologies churning out day after day, getting smaller and smaller. Size does matter, after all.
The buttonhole camcorders, the miniscule cameras, the almost unnoticeable microphones hidden in the most unlikely places – they are all constantly used by the authorities to gather evidence against a suspect (and put to especially good use by pirates). When Orwell's novel 1984 was published back in 1949, many began to fear the year 1984 and how the development of technology would affect society.
Orwell warned of the emergence of a totalitarian society, one where the people were constantly monitored and controlled by various forms of technology. He reminded the general population that those kinds of technology could also be used to invade the privacy of our homes and keep a constant eye out for any "ungoodthinkful" thoughts or actions. Big Brother, with the help of technology, was the all-seeing, all-knowing god, and any insolence would not be tolerated (No, Orwell did not predict the presidency of George Bush).
The irony of the situation, however, is that now the general population is blissfully ignorant of the dangers of our improving technology. Our everyday lives have been so saturated with it that it is now part of the background. Even people who are self-proclaimed "technophobes" rely on technology, but whether they know about it or not is a different matter. We are comfortable in our current situation, and prefer to shut our eyes to any threats to avoid any changes.
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