Introduction
My previous research, written in 2001, was based on the warnings presented in three books (all written over 63 years ago):
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray, (1953). Fahrenheit 451, Ballantine Books, New York, NY
Brave New World
Huxley, Aldous, (1946), Brave New World, Second Edition, Harper Perennial, New York, NY
1984
Orwell, George, (1949), 1984, Harcourt Brace, New York
Most of us are familiar with these classics....
Why are we not taking their implied implications that a preoccupied populace, more concerned with entertainment than reality, is at a grave risk of becoming a totalitarian state, seriously enough?
This is an important question that we need to ask of ourselves. Television, as an addictive medium that can communicate directly to millions in a split seconds time and which is controlled by a handful of global corporations, is problem enough. Now we are faced with the digitization of a combined computer, television and Internet interface. It is no longer a one directional form of communication. Our identities, our preferences, our medical data, our financial records, our personal likes and dislikes, where we live, what we eat, what our fears are, what we want, what we need…. all being compiled into major databases…. available to those who can make a tremendous financial profit out of that knowledge (Alwang, Mendelson, Rubenking, 2001)....more