Socratic seminar

On Friday of this past week my classmates and I participated in a group speaking activity in which we discussed the events and raising questions that were brought about in the novel 1984, written by George Orwell. One of the main topics of the discussion was the Newspeak language and how Big Brother used it to try to expel certain words, vocabulary, and thoughts from the common people's language. I feel that, even though the words may no longer exist, it would be very difficult to completely rid an idea from existence, especially one as significant as rebellion or hapiness. Our activity also largely consisted of the idea of surveillance and when it becomes intrusive onto our community. We all know the meaning behind surveillance if general safety, but over installment of spyware, cameras, and microphones results in the people becoming paranoid and violated. In 1984, Winston tries to find peace in his diary, but the constant watch of the telescreens does not allow it. This is an instance where the government goes too far in trying to ensure the publics General welfare. In conclusion, I thought the activity was a good way to give me other perspectives on some of the underlying topics in the novel and i enjoy group activities.

invasion.

  Technology may be our worst invasion. Lives were lost to fight for our rights, and one of them was privacy. It's no secret that technology is becoming more integrated in our work lives, and since we're getting more comfortable with it we're allowing technology to become more involved with our personal lives too. The number of people who own phones, laptops, or tablets is rising. Because so many people own one of these devices or all three, it's important to realize that as technology advances, it's becoming more intrusive in our personal lives. Personal information about us is constantly being gathered. Your device probably knows more about you than your close friend. Technology has become a part of us. It carries our contacts, calendar, personal messages to friends and colleagues, and other important information. Since we're all so comfortable wit technology we begin to get in the habit of storing personal information on our devices. This personal information can include anything from your Social Security number to your bank account or credit card numbers. I understand that we all need that personal information from time to time, however it's ignorant of us to think that the information is safe and will be completely removed from the memory once we delete it, especially since it's been shown multiple times that deleted information can be recovered.Also, with all of these new innovative technologies and apps coming out, it's harder to keep some personal information from being seen. More and more, apps are requiring to be able to access your contacts, pictures, and files for you to use them, and these apps are being downloaded from millions of people and still counting. The government may be doing this for good intentions; however, they may be crossing the line asking for more information from us. Our privacy is slowly being taken away, but it may be for the good of the people. Keep in mind that there’s so many people, the government may only be tracking down suspicious ones and not each and every one of you.

This question itself is the problem.

When is it right or wrong for the government to be able to watch us? Is our technology making it easier for them to do so without us knowing? What is the government's true intentions with using surveillance technology for spying? In the world of 1984, the government's purpose for spying on its citizens was obvious, to control. Big Brother, the name and face that led the totalitarian state of Oceana, gave a false impression that the government was not only spying in on its citizens, but also lying to and controlling their minds as a means of “security”. In our current society, the same topics and events have occurred within our households and the public eye. I believe, after observing these events, that our society can potentially become like that of 1984 through the government's use of surveillance technology.The simple use of cameras served as a huge surveillance tool in the world of 1984, as well as our own. However like in 1984's era, that was only the start to Big Brother's controlling grip on its citizens. The use of surveillance cameras and tapping into private electronic devices only aided in a bigger scheme of control. Once the government can secretly, or even openly, watch us, they would learn and eventually predict our future actions. Many may argue that the government is only doing such invasive acts in order to protect us from potential threats from other countries or sources. However it becomes too extreme when they invade our daily lives and eventually try to control our actions, thoughts or decisions. This kind of control was easily obtained in Oceana, in 1984, through simple surveillance tools such as the telescreens and microphones. In our current society, revolving around cellphones, televisions, computers and other internet powered devices, a “revolution” where the government gains complete possible. The government can access every life through our private internet-connected devices with their advanced tools such as computer programs, camera hacking, and even satellites without our knowing or permission.

Surveillance

Although lately everyone has been focusing on the negatives of surveillance I think there is also a lot of positivity. For example, if a someone were to be attacked in the middle of a parking lot and beaten half to death then that victim would eventually call the police and the police will scan the area for cameras and once found they can review the tapes to discover what truly happened and upon further investigation be able to to identify the criminal in order to get him off of the streets. Another importance would be if there was a bank robbery and hostages were taken then the FBI would be able to access the cameras within the bank live in an attempt to end the situation and save as many lives as possible. There is always going to be something bad and something good whenever it comes to these types of things. A negativity would be the invasion of privacy. Many people don't like the fact that there is a camera nearby their home because they believe that someone may be lurking on the other side. Many people also believe that on cellphones having GPS is an open door to stalkers or murderers, but what they don't see is the fact that if some sort of emergency happened where they tripped over a rock and bust their head and passed out, that same exact GPS would be used for the police to help locate that person and save their life. If people were to realize the positives and perks of the rise of surveillance, they may begin to understand that it isn't such a bad thing.

Big Brother Is Watching You

The show "Big Brother" has been airing since 1999, first shown in the Netherlands. The premise of the show centers on a group of people or "housemates" that are thrown in a house together in a home, isolated from an outside world and aren't aware or notified of outside events. The housemates are monitored by in-house television cameras and personal microphones throughout their stay. 

Big Brother must be closer than we think.

This isn't to say that our society is quickly taking a route towards one of the Party. There aren't telescreens attached to every wall and microphones hidden in every nook and cranny, but there might as well be some. Many devices have taken the "telescreen" initiative and are notified when we are in their midst, such the Kinect or Wii, many home uses such as a garage. There are even air fresheners that give off the smell when they sense a person in their presence. 

As consumers of entertainment, we are drawn to the "Big Brother" TV show. We are interested in the lives of others and how they act when they are aware of cameras watching them and microphones recording their conversations. As a reality TV show, it takes the fiction of Big Brother into reality. What if this became a reality? Would we really be subject to act like the housemates in the show? We'd be cautious of our every move and every action. We'd be afraid to talk a certain way to certain people. Are we ready for this kind of transition?

The actual book doesn't offer too much background knowledge of the emergence of Ocean, Eurasia, and Eastasia or even the Party itself. We know that the book was written around the time of Hitler's rule and the world they live in may be a product of the world war. A war could be happening in our midst, with the acts of ISIS and nuclear threats from North Korea. Under dangerous situations and terrorism, we may blindly follow a leader just because we need to be told what to do. Is Big Brother closer than we think? Are we prepared for sudden transition?

I wonder about the CLOUD .

Just the other day my friend and I were talking about iCloud. She had some issues with it and i told her nobody understands THE CLOUD. She started laughing and so did i but now that i actually think of it were is our information going. The cloud is a powerful source that is provide for every iPhone. It keeps all of our pictures,contacts, notes , and etc. It has our whole “life” in a single location. But what if we loose that information or what if we want to get rid of some data from it. Where does it all go to after it  has been “deleted”? Is it actually even being deleted or is it just erased from our view and kept somewhere else? Where could it possibly go. Do you ever just sit down and start to wondering where does everything go,how does it get transferred, and what pathways it takes in order to get to there. 

The one thing that bugged me about iCloud was that we have to create an account and once i got my new iPhone i didn't want to log onto my iCloud but i kept getting notification every hour that i need to log on so i could restore and saving everything and i would ignore it but the notifications kept coming and coming till i finally gave up and enter my login and password. But, why did it keep on insisting even though i kept rejecting it. Why was it so important to have it on my phone. I don't even use it at all its just there.

Maybe surveillance isn't so bad.

When we react about surveillance i feel like some of us over-react for something that is not so big. In my opinion. Although we are told that we are being “watched” i don't feel like we are through our technology visually i mean. Rather mostly when we are on the web.  They gather our data but, they don't miss use it. Rather they are just checking for any threats. They are doing their job protecting the nation and keeping us safe. When we hear that they are “spying” on us we view the situation on a personal level view. Rather than seeing it as a whole ( all of us) . In a way the surveillance isn't even really effecting our everyday lives. We all live everyday like any other ordinary day. Unlike oceania Big Brother controls and manipulate their people. We aren't on that level. I guess the government really doesn't tell us much because we really don't sit and think about the situation rather we overreact and go into conclusion. News reports send out the message but they twist many words and make it seem much more worse than it actually is. In a way the government should address it , rather than it being hacked and release. It would make us feel a little bit more comfortable if it came from them rather from other sources. We need to see surveillance from a positive perspective and see how it actually is useful for us.