Education In 1984

Thinking makes us human and enables us to progress, construct, and become civilized. Without the ability to think, advancement and cultivation of new ideas would have never occurred. The progression of society is only made possible with the development of new, cutting-edge, abstract ideas. However, in 1984 by George Orwell, the Party’s main goal is to destroy words to narrow the range of thought and ultimately abolish the ability to think and halt societal progression. Similarly, in modern society, advancement in technology along with the invention of the Internet is quickly changing the way humans approach complex obstacles and making it demanding to think. In addition, the ongoing cycle of technological dependency is even being pushed down
Oceania consists about 85% Proles and he thinks that the society’s hope for the future lies in them. However, he has one problem, the Proles do not know any better to revolt. “"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious" (Orwell, 74). Because of their lack of education, the Proles do not have any reason to revolt. George Orwell is warning the world that this deficiency of education is very dangerous in our society because the Party is using them exclusively for physical labor and the Proles do not even know they are being taken advantage of due to their ignorance. Winston soon finds out that the Proles will never revolt because they have all the essential needs of life such as, food and shelter. This concept of ignorance can even be applied to our world today because as humans rely more on technology, eventually this so called artificial intelligence will soon outsmart humanity. In a new study conducted at numerous universities all around the country found that freshmen college students, particularly women, spend nearly half the day on their phones engaged in a form of media, mainly texting
Children are most at risk of negative impacts due to their developing and malleable brains. “Frequent exposure by so-called digital natives to technology is actually wiring the brain in ways very different than in previous generations” (Taylor 1). What is frightening about this situation is that researchers do not really know the about the long-term effects because of the lack of knowledge in this field of study. As a result, people might not be able to think for themselves because of their dependency on modern technology. Comparatively, the citizens of Oceania could never think for themselves due to their perpetual fear of the brutal Party. Additionally, in the Research Department of the Ministry of Truth, workers are destroying hundreds of words each day to ultimately eradicate the ability to think. “We're destroying words -- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We're cutting the language down to the bone...It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words” (Orwell 51). Language is an extremely powerful force and enables us to think, express ideas, and communicate. If someone were to take away our knowledge of words, the society will truly collapse. Thusly, George Orwell is cautioning the world that if you allow the government to eliminate words, the minds can effortlessly be controlled. As the destruction of words