{"id":272324,"date":"2025-11-01T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/?p=272324"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:10:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T14:10:43","slug":"george-orwell-modern-world-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/george-orwell-modern-world-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion| The modern world: George Orwell\u2019s warning in the age of technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I remembered reading that they were making sausages out of fish, and fish, no doubt, out of something different. It gave me the feeling that I&#8217;d bitten into the modern world and discovered what it was really made of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This passage from George Orwell\u2019s 1939 novel <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orwellfoundation.com\/the-orwell-foundation\/orwell\/books-by-orwell\/coming-up-for-air\/\">Coming Up for Air<\/a><\/em> has become a haunting metaphor. It describes this glittery, fast-moving age we find ourselves racing to embrace and understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First published just before World War II and the creation of the atomic bomb, Orwell\u2019s novel captured the fear and fragility of a world on the edge of change. It is a feeling that still lingers in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-war-to-wi-fi-the-unease-of-progress\">From War to Wi-Fi: The unease of progress<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>More than eight decades later, the unease and paranoia Orwell wrote about have evolved into something else. It has become a fear born from technological and industrial innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, we emerged into a world reshaped by digital transformation. Hybrid work became the norm, governments faced new distrust, and theatres and record stores faded away. Meanwhile, podcasts, YouTube, and streaming platforms took centre stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We saw <strong>YouTube<\/strong> become the new television. Now we are bombarded with unskippable ads and more spam calls than ever before.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Cooped up in our homes, we turned to screens for comfort and connection. These videos and social feeds became our escape from an uncertain reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-rise-of-aesthetic-culture\">The rise of aesthetic culture<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We are now living through what might be called the golden age of technology, an era defined by speed, data, and aesthetics.<br>On Instagram, the obsession with appearing stylish or \u201ccurated\u201d has turned authenticity into performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A photograph that once captured a fleeting moment is now filtered, polished, and staged to fit an online ideal of perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-journalism-to-algorithms\">From Journalism to algorithms<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In Orwell\u2019s day, reporters and radio were the primary sources of information. Facts were verified before publication.<br>Today, social media platforms such as TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook spread breaking news and graphic content at lightning speed. This often happens without verification or ethical consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A violent video can be shared and reshared thousands of times before anyone confirms whether it truly happened or if the footage is appropriate for public viewing.<br>Worse still, when a young person lingers on one such video, algorithms ensure they see more of the same. This shapes their perception of the world through trauma and desensitisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is as if social media has become a colourful zoo, where users gawk at chaos and pain yet cannot look away. Many become numb and overstimulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fast-food-news-fast-food-truth\">Fast Food News, Fast Food Truth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Like fast food, online information is designed for speed and gratification.<br>We want our news, our opinions, and our outrage served instantly , cheap and digestible.<br>And when truth takes too long, we grow impatient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We must remember that convenience often comes at the cost of integrity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as we rarely question what is in our burger, we seldom question what is in the information we consume.<br>The challenge for journalists , and citizens , is to remain vigilant. We must distinguish between truth and the lies being packaged, marketed, and sold to us as fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I remembered reading that they were making sausages out of fish, and fish, no doubt, out of something different. It gave me the feeling that I&#8217;d bitten into the modern 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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opinion| The modern world: George Orwell\u2019s warning in the age of technology | People&#039;s Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Uncover the relevance of George Orwell&#039;s work in understanding the modern world and its unsettling transformations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/george-orwell-modern-world-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion| The modern world: George Orwell\u2019s warning in the age of technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Uncover the relevance of George Orwell&#039;s work in 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