The future is becoming more like Brave New World rather than 1984

[Wili Clip]

Disclaimer: I was tired when I wrote this text so it might not follow the grammar rules and at times it goes out of topic that I wanted to write about but despite being tired I wanted to put it out of my head in the public realm for people to discuss.

I was watching a documentary The social dilemma on Netflix today. It is about how addictive the social media is for most of the population and how through advertising and featured content selected/catered to every individual's preferences as its based on data mined and machine learning.

Basically anything you do on web is stored under your profile and the machines (AI) is learning about you and serving you content you like and are most interested in as. The side effect of that is that this locks people in what I'd call an artificial reality bubbles. (Best example is at the time around elections if you're for example supporter of one political party you are going to be fed by machine learning algorithms the news that will be against the other political party - even if those news are fake). This is not real or objective reality it is what became known as fake reality constructed on fake news. Basically today you're always fed things that you're personally interested in and 2 different people are going to get different youtube video suggestions - because machines are designed to learn from your data input on every step. People who are aware of that can be more or less immune to it but most people just view things (information) that they are offered / fed. Even the people who worked for companies such as Google and Facebook are falling victim to it.

The lines between what is real and what is fake are blurred now days more than ever. One could argue that through owning the media powerful political or corporate interests always more or less controlled information and that is true. What is interesting today is that the information (or ability to shape the world view of the masses) is going to be more and more controlled through designers of machine learning algorithms  But machines (algorithms) will never know what is real or not real or what is good or what is evil... A badly designed self learning algorithm can go out of hands and do damage. It has already happened.

I'd say that today information is controlled/manipulated, filtered and disseminated by big tech that own social media and no longer by big media networks (which are all having to retort to use social media because that is where the most people are and there will be even more).

Couldn't help but my mind started pulling certain parallels and connections between the addictive power of social media and persuasive tech today with the dystopian social science fiction novel Brave New World by English author Aldous Huxley. The novel was written in written in 1931 but it is very important to understand the world and to what scenario of the possible future the society today in 2021 is going to. 

In the novel the participants of the society take drug called soma. They take it whenever they feel some kind of stress or discomfort - that is what they always did and always want to do as they were not raised to be able to handle real life and to think critically and independently about things - they always follow and do whatever others are doing. The futuristic society from the novel is ran by artificial intelligence and all the people belong to hierarchical groups based on their brain capacity to understand things / intelligence. From managers levels whose job is to protect the way of life and make sure everyone follows rules down to cleaners.

It is a natural response of a human to want to avoid any kind of pain or stress and that is why even in today's society many people retort to different types of addictive behaviors or abuse of substances when the life becomes or is tough. I think for non critical people (its usually those that are not educated) its easier to develop addictive behaviors as their self control systems are weaker. The most addictive thing for most humans is money. Society is indeed controlled by money and always has been.

There is a real danger that a big size of human population becomes kind of like cattle for big tech businesses to milk them. Many people call it Matrix. One could argue that today in form of social media some form of Matrix or traces of it is already formed. As machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence gets more advanced then such system or way of life we are developing in our society can easily be overtaken by artificial intelligence at some point in future (probably not in our life time but who knows). There is a risk that in future people become slaves to self learning tech in transition period to tech companies that produce those algorithms and the final outcome could lead to total control. For now the programmers have the self learning tech totally under control but in coming future things can quickly go out of hands.

There is interesting series - Brave New World currently on Netflix if anyone is interesting to watch.

American way of controlling population was always through soft ways of persuasion and propaganda (advertising, brands, pop culture, sexualized culture) - catering to peoples desires. There is another extreme that is currently kind of in the hands of China that could lead towards the future that is more Orwellian - destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by propaganda, surveillance, disinformation, denial of truth (doublethink), and manipulation of the past, including the "unperson"—a person whose past existence is expunged from the public record and memory, practiced by modern repressive governments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian

But I believe the way the tech is progressing we're kind of entering to something similar to the dystopian world that Aldous Huxley depictured in his novel in 1931. It is fascinating.

So yes I am noticing parallels between a novel and the effect of modern social tech on people and how its re-shaping society.

 

[Coffee Pancake]

30 minutes ago, Wili Clip said:

The most addictive thing for most humans is money.

It's really not.

[Arielle Popstar]

Sex is the most addictive thing affecting 65% of the population according to figures I have run across. And certainly not relegated to the  poor only for their lack of self control. What rot.

[Wili Clip]

1 minute ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Sex is the most addictive thing affecting 65% of the population according to figures I have run across. And certainly not relegated to the  poor only for their lack of self control. What rot.

A lot of people associate money with sex.... they think if they have more of money they can make more opportunities for sex or to find a better or higher quality partner.

[Arielle Popstar]

1 minute ago, Wili Clip said:

A lot of people associate money with sex.... they think if they have more of money they can make more opportunities for sex or to find a better or higher quality partner.

Which still makes the core addiction sex. Recover from the sex addiction and the money is no longer an issue to the degree it was. Its therefore in those cases a secondary addiction at best.

[Coffee Pancake]

/me rezzes a tip jar and walks away ..... 

 

[Wili Clip]

5 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Which still makes the core addiction sex. Recover from the sex addiction and the money is no longer an issue to the degree it was. Its therefore in those cases a secondary addiction at best.

I think you're right about sex. It is the strongest life force humans can feel. But the world and society is controlled by money not sex. Maybe I expressed myself wrongly I am quite a bit tired - I've even put that in disclaimer. To maybe try to understand an overall message and views about things that I wanted to convey.

What I really mean is that money is very important to people and for their survival. That is why most people work in jobs - to be able to survive. And large amount of money can also become a reason why some people can loose values, self respect (or they don't have) and take bribes or accept immoral benefits. Its happening all the time. 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Wili Clip

[Rowan Amore]

I think some people are addicted to attention.

[RunawayBunny]

9 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

/me rezzes a tip jar and walks away ..... 

Its "ours" now. (Sorry couldn't resit)

[RunawayBunny]

  

55 minutes ago, Wili Clip said:

The most addictive thing for most humans is money.

Who decided that? Its a assumption from my perspective money is a tool not a purpose.

[Silent Mistwalker]

 

Y'all need to get the puck off my planet.

 

🤭

[Profaitchikenz Haiku]

37 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I think some people are addicted to attention.

You nailed it.

[ItHadToComeToThis]

Funnily enough. Sex isn’t something that has ever bothered me. I never crave it. Never desire it. I have been intimate with partners at times sure but....not something I particularly care about. I have been single for around 10 years now and haven’t had sec in about as long and quite honestly never even think about it. Maybe I am asexual.

[ItHadToComeToThis]

2 minutes ago, Profaitchikenz Haiku said:

You nailed it.

😅 10 points for Gryffindor!

[LittleMe Jewell]

48 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I think some people are addicted to attention.

Reminds me of a certain someone that was an escort.

[Profaitchikenz Haiku]

44 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

Y'all need to get the puck off my planet.

Why a duck?

[Silent Mistwalker]

44 minutes ago, Profaitchikenz Haiku said:

Why a duck?

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

11 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

I am noticing parallels between a novel and the effect of modern social tech on people and how its re-shaping society.

Hey that's so uncanny. I just happened to notice parallels too. Parallels between forum people and main sequence stars.

The red dwarfs on the right hand side are low-temperature. They mostly, quietly lurk around and casually place a small comment, once in a while. And on the other side of the spectral axis, there are the blazingly hot blue giants. The blue ones start a new forum thread several times per week, writing tl;dr stories, shining bright, burning like there's no tomorrow. They have personalities larger than life but they go through their fuel amazingly fast. They will burn up in a matter of millions of years. This is in contrast to the red dwarfs that will calmly burn on for trillions.

There was one blue giant on this forum recently, who starting whoring around on the forums showcasing her fantastic SLex life and about how great the platform is for prostitution and then, in a final supernova, revealed that she was actually a guy IRL.

11 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

but despite being tired I wanted to put it out of my head in the public realm

Heavens, don't wear yourself out, man. Beware the CNO cycle.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Jordyn McGregor]

10 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

I think some people are addicted to attention.

I would have gone with..."listening to themselves type".

[sirhc DeSantis]

12 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

how addictive the social media is for most of the population
 

 

Stops reading as dude is trying another advert

[Ceka Cianci]

As fast as things change nowadays, it's kinda hard to say what will be going on in five years.. We may all be waiting for our names to be called to go to the island.. hehehe

 

 

[Alwin Alcott]

12 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

 take bribes

bribes are something we all grow up with, it's not a bad thing in itself.

[Pixie Kobichenko]

14 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

But machines (algorithms) will never know what is real or not real or what is good or what is evil...

As we all know, Skynet will determine humans to be the real evil so 🤷‍♀️ 

but for real, I’ve switched to mostly lurking on the boards anymore but felt the need to say I really don’t understand what you’re trying to convey in your post unless it’s that corporations pay advertisers to create marketing geared towards our click history which we already know is cookies & that FB advertises things that could only be suggested because our devices listen to our conversations.  
 

 

[Rolig Loon]

17 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

That is why most people work in jobs - to be able to survive.

Well, maybe.  I'll agree that's why most people have jobs, but I suspect that's not why they work at them. It's certainly not why I have ever worked at anything. I work because I enjoy what I am doing and I would go nuts if I didn't have something worthwhile to do.  There were a couple of times in my life when I took a job -- both times with a pretty nice salary bump -- and found that it was not intellectually challenging or put me in a position where I felt uncomfortable, so I left at the first chance.  Surviving is kind of important, but living is a different matter.

[Luna Bliss]

28 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

17 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

That is why most people work in jobs - to be able to survive.

Well, maybe.  I'll agree that's why most people have jobs, but I suspect that's not why they work at them. It's certainly not why I have ever worked at anything. I work because I enjoy what I am doing and I would go nuts if I didn't have something worthwhile to do.  There were a couple of times in my life when I took a job -- both times with a pretty nice salary bump -- and found that it was not intellectually challenging or put me in a position where I felt uncomfortable, so I left at the first chance.  Surviving is kind of important, but living is a different matter.

Unfortunately most people must work, and work very hard, at jobs they don't enjoy.

I'm glad you were not/are not one of them, but your example is in the minority.