"With the radio and television always on"
In today's world, we live in a place constantly filled with noise. The engines of cars, the videos from our cellphones, the blaring music from surround sound systems. We live in a world where we can't really escape, and where we don't want to escape. (that is a generality, I know. But, just hear me out)
We hear, but we don't listen. We are never in quiet. We are always doing one thing or another, never taking the time to relax and wonder. Even when we aren't doing work, we feel guilty and stress about not completing our tasks.
Linda loves the "brave new world". She loves "soma." In fact, she doesn't want to stop taking soma. In this instance, soma could represent modern day technology. When schools take phones away from their students, for the most part there is a negative response. When you go out to dinner, it is not uncommon to see people on their devices instead of talking with each other and having full conversations. While, I am happy that we have so much information at our fingertips, It can also be very harmful. Harmful in the sense that people aren't communicating as much and state that they "hate people" and "hate society", without realizing that they are people and they are a part of society.
It's crazy to think how we separate and distance ourselves from Linda, yet in a sense we are her. We want technology. We are constantly in a state of noise. It's rare to see someone sitting down without any technology - just thinking, without being stressed without a care in the world. I don't know where I was heading with this, but do you agree? Is life with technology only going to get worse? What are your thoughts?
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I think soma represents technology. Technology is our escape from the real world even though we don't realize it, much like soma. Are we unhappy with our world without even knowing it? Is our society a dystopic society or becoming one?
ReplyDeleteI think soma can be symbolic for a multitude of things, one of which i stated was technology. We are all inherently unhappy with our lives, which is why we strive for progress - it's the reason why we do what we do in our day to day lives. Society will always be dystopic because it's impossible to achieve perfection because everyone has different ideas of perfection. (also, we as humans love the idea of perfection but hate perfection itself)
DeleteI completely agree with the you julia I believe that soma represents multiple things especially something as addictive and technology. It only take one time to get addictive to something and in Linda's case she needs it to survive. I feel like a lot of kids these days feel like they need their technology to survive because we always hear them say " I'll die without my phone" but I think it's because we haven't really enforced kids to live without their phone and if we ever do they'll have a panic attack.
DeleteAlex, that's so true! If someone left there phone at home even for a day they will freak out. (My sister did this last Friday). It's incredible and frightening what our world has come to in terms with addictions
DeleteI agree I think you can compare drug addiction to technology. Check out this article, it's very interesting & relates to the topic.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8436831/Student-addiction-to-technology-similar-to-drug-cravings-study-finds.html
4/5 students feel like they cannot unplug from their technology for a NIGHT?!?!? If we extrapolate, then we can assume that more than 80% of the entire population is like this. That is incredibly sad. Technology is more addicting than some drugs... eek
DeleteI agree with Amanda. This sort of reminds me of a conversation that we had in Dystopian and Utopian Lit. We were referring to the fact that it seems like technology is overpowering us. For example in Fahrenheit 451, how people are almost being hypnotized by technology to the point where even their walls are made of t.v. To make it even worse, these people have been surrounded so much by technology that they have forgotten how to even communicate with one another. I mean how hard can it be to have a single conversation with someone. It's simply an escape from all the problems we have.
ReplyDeleteOur lives are like that today.. So many people claim to be "socially awkward" yet they post so much online. There are several people that I know that will speak to people via text or im but not in person. Technology can be helpful resource yet its also very damaging.
DeleteYeah, I agree with you two and I was going to bring up Bradbury too. It's amazing how the human race progresses and how quick it is progressing, but we can't keep up physically or psychologically. Change is good, yes, but there's so much we can handle. I do want to bring up the fact that there are pros and cons to everything, so maybe we're being stubborn with change, like we disagree with the Elders or other cultures today who believe(d) in covering every inch of your body and being able to kill your children if they defy you. Right and wrong is relative, so is it a matter of pacing ourselves or something ?
DeleteI'm not sure if it's pacing ourselves or if we should just give up that thing?
DeleteTo be honest, life is getting worse with technology. It keeps advancing and it catches our eyes. There are 12 years old with iPhones who would rather text or go onto social media than go outside and play with their friends or family. Although there are pros for having technology, there are lots of cons as well.
ReplyDeleteIf you compare the pro's and con's, I feel as if there are more cons than pros.
DeleteI agree with Amanda and Melissa! Both Linda and Mildred (one of the characters from Fahrenheit 451) resort to drugs to relieve them. Without the soma, Linda wouldn't have anything to take her away from her life struggles. Can she even overdose?
ReplyDeleteShe cannot overdose because she's already dead
DeleteI'm asking for the possibility of an overdose
DeleteIt is true technology is our soma in this world we live in. we cannot get enough of it.Like cellphones are a addictions to many people.We always want the newest model. Only if there was an upgrade for soma?
ReplyDeleteI mean it's essentially the same thing because technology is technology despite which one is newer
DeleteIt is true technology is our soma in this world we live in. we cannot get enough of it.Like cellphones are a addictions to many people.We always want the newest model. Only if there was an upgrade for soma?
ReplyDeleteWhen you put it like that, technology and soma do have the same addicting effects. I can't remember the last time I went outside biking, but I for sure remember scorlling down my dash 10 minutes ago. So, when you put it like that, we could be Linda. It just makes me imagine if suddenly we took everything away. How much teens would go mad? how much people will suffer? How'll news around the world surface? I mean, we don't really have the comfort of a voice echoing around the room saying everything will be alright supplying and restoring to us brand new phone. What'll be our safety net?
ReplyDeleteIf the Internet crashed and all forms of electronics stopped working, what would happen?! IMAGINE JUST IMAGINE THE TERROR OF EVERYONE LIKE IT SOUNDS SO ENTICING. Personally, I am a people watcher (this sounds creeper than it actually is. I like to study people) itd be absolutely astonishing to see how people would react and how many people wouldn't be able to cope
DeleteI can honestly say I fell in love of your post. The way you described/compared Linda to everyone is amazing. I never saw this point of view, since we had originally had said that we were like Bernard. This makes me believe that we are everyone. We want to be at the top and take control like the Director. We want to be different and change the world like Helmholtz. We are all different and feel betrayed when things go wrong like John. Sometimes we even "fall in love" to fast like Lena. So we are all of them but they are just separated to be one.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and YES! I feel like every single character represents a piece of us. While Bernanrd might stand out the most, every other character is like us in one way or another!
Deleteok so fun example; in Fahrenheit 451 every home has a sort of Tv like thing. However it takes up the entire wall, you can go as far as doing all four walls in your living room if you'd like. I find this relevant because it is like a prediction of how our technology will advance. And in the story these walls create detached people with no social skills. So yea, technology can definitely become a negative factor in everyday life.
ReplyDeleteit's odd how we are trying to incorporate more and more technology in our lives when we are already abusing of it way too much...
DeleteThis reminds me of a study Mr. Bornemisza brought up in US/AZ History last semester. He talked about how due to the way our generation uses technology so liberally, our brains can only process information if it's fed to us almost immediately. Essentially, we've gone and given ourselves ADD. Kind of like how a drug addict can't go a moment without their fix, no?
ReplyDeleteYes!! I can assure you that more than half of students would rather be indoors on technology than out and about exercising. Like there are repercussions and draw backs that are already very out there and obvious.
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