Analysis Of Jared Diamond's 'TED Talk' By George Orwell

In his 2003 TED talk, Jared Diamond presents five factors that lead to a society’s collapse. Amongst other reasons, Diamond discusses the role of “dysfunctional political practices” (Diamond) in grand societal failure. Interestingly, 57 years prior to Diamond’s TED talk, George Orwell had shared a similar sentiment in his essay, “Politics and the English Language”. The prevalence of a similar attitude in contemporary society may lead one to assume Orwell’s thesis to still be relevant, which it is, but only to a certain extent. When analyzing the work of competent novelists, it is crucial that the potential influences of personal bias that may influence the novelist's perception be taken into account. Acknowledging this allows the reader to extol the content of the writing and not the writer itself, preventing indoctrination simply because the writer has a high ethos. As a democratic socialist and proficient novelist, Orwell’s biases prompt his despise for common political practices and prose, serving as sources of flaws in his teachings. In particular, while Orwell’s statements about manipulation through obfuscated speech and his rules for writing are flawed; however, he also makes a valid point when discussing a language’s ability to corrupt thought.

As previous mentioned, Orwell developed several biases against totalitarianism due to his experiences; in particular, his experience in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. When those he was biased against acted in ways that upset him, the development of his biases enabled Orwell to culpitate them, even if the consequences were only slightly the fault of the perpetrators. For example, mass political manipulation is a widely known phenomenon; however, since Orwell was against unclear use o...

... middle of paper ...

...e exists a popular saying, “write what you know.” John Grisham, writer of The Firm, effectively wrote a novel about lawyers because he practiced as one. People communicate what they interpret as the truth, but this habit is not limited to writing. Along with writing drenched with bias, members of the society must be conscious of the biases of those they associate with; this is due to the likelihood of those biases affecting themselves subconsciously. For a society to progress, it is vital that its members do not have their course of life and decisions influenced by the biases others formed due to their personal experiences. English is global; with numerous variations of the language making Orwell’s statements inapplicable; however, an open minded approach to the essay can be constructive seeding intelligent thoughts into society, as Orwell hoped for it to accomplish.