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Effect of technology on human beings
Effect of technology on human beings
Effect of technology on human beings
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People who think together have no motivation to think at all. This makes it far too easy for a singular force to subdue the masses, which is exactly what happens in Anthem by Ayn Rand. If there is no thinking being done there will never be any change, without change there can be no progress. The nature of science and technology is malleable to the people of the time. There are three condition that affect their progression, all of which need to be meet in order for an acceptable amount of progression to take place.
In Anthem there is a dramatic juxtaposition of the current technological status and scientific understanding enjoyed in this day and age, and the primitive technology and mystical scientific thought in Anthem; there is no known
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source of light other than the stars, the moon, and the candles. The light bulb was invented in 1879, they are more than 200 years behind, over 300 if you consider the fact that there is no mention of oil lamps anywhere in the novella. Medieval thought was not only known but believed, “We learned that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it, which causes the day and the night”(23), the fact that the earth is a sphere was proven in the 16th century after the Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish expedition, when the first circumnavigation happened. Implying that Anthem’s civilization is at least 500 years behind the modern world in the field of science. Proving that the while Equality 7-2521 life may be in the future his government wishes to keep civilian thought in the far, far past. The nature of both science and technology is like a civilization; it starts out small, grows, goes through ages and eras.
And just like a great civilization it’s future is not succor. It can decline; the only thing left to acknowledge it’s existence is a some ruins, scattered and few. But just like how the renaissance brought back antiquity Equality 7-2521 can bring true knowledge back into his world. He discovers electricity(52-54) and reinvented a new way to deliver light: “We had touched no flint, made no fire. Yet here was light, light that came from nowhere, light from the heart of metal”(59). Anthem conveys the thought that while science and technology can decline, they can never die in the hearts of the curious and willing. That is the true nature of these two magnificent components of the …show more content…
world. The conditions for technology to progress and scientific discoveries to be made are simple.
In order for technology to move forward it has to have people that are willing to work for the sake of science, a government that allows progression, and society that demands faster, clearer, more efficient things. That is why the world of Anthem has such a slow technological advancement rate, while there are people who wish to make discoveries and create new things, and there may very well be people who wish there was a way to lift some of their burden off their shoulders, the government has a set up that allows very little progression over a large amount of time. Whenever Equality 7-2521 presents his light to the Council of Scholars they told him “ It took fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle… We cannot alter the Plans again so soon”(74); not only did it take half a century to put something to use that was already invented, but earlier in the book Equality 7-2521 mentions that the discovery of how to make candles was made 100 years ago(24). So if candles were created a 100 year ago and it took 50 years to get them approved that means that they have been in use for 50 years. The Council of Scholars is saying that to go through 50 years of struggle just to enjoy only 50 years of candles and then have to fight once more to get a new creation to get approved intended for the same purpose seems idiotic and not worth their
time. The modern world is obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge and the act of innovation. Anthem’s society is not only content with a near static society, but actually promotes and enforces it. However, technology and science will eventually come to make a tremendous effect on the populous, as is it’s nature to do; then the masses will overthrow the government that has hidden such incredible knowledge from them. For men who have knowledge cannot be forced into submission, hince why the Anthem’s government stalls the progression of ideas.
In their world they are both as one. They can’t be who they are they have to strive to be the same. In Anthem it says, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great, we, One, indivisible and forever.” Some of the lyrics from 2112 say, “One for all and all for one work together common sons.” The characters are supposed to be just like everyone else but these two men don’t follow the rules. They don’t want to be stuck doing the same thing and living the same life as everyone else. Equality has the courage to show his invention to the scholars. He is excited and is so ready for them to love his idea. Despite what he thinks the scholars disapprove of his idea, he is supposed to be working as a street sweeper not helping them make new things, especially not on his own. It is against the law to work on your one. They think something should be done with him, he shouldn’t be around anymore, so he runs off before they harm him. Likewise, in 2112 he wants to show them what he has found the lyrics say “I can't wait to share this new wonder. The people will all see its light.Let them all make their own
Imagine a world where people are only expected to live up to 45 years old. In today's society, there are countries that experience this. In the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand; there are many factors like lifestyle, government, medicine, and education that lead to this. There are a couple of ways where the world in the novel is similar and different to today's society.
who is trying to be where he belongs, The Home of Scholars, but the Council of Vocations has told him that he has to be a street sweeper. Then when he discoverers electronic light, he realizes that it is a great power that everyone can use instead of candles and torches.When he goes to show the Home of Scholars this great invention ,he states, “We give you the power of the sky!” we cried. “We give you the key to the earth! Take it, and let us be one of yours, the humblest among you. Let us all work together, and harness this power, and make it easy the toil of men. Let us throw away our candles and our torches. Let us flood our cities with light. Let us bring a new light to men!”(Page 71).But the people of The Home of Scholars rejected him because he, a street sweeper, should never step foot in the an upper class place such as the Home of Scholars and because his light invention “ is a very terrible idea”.
In Ayn Rand’s famous, or in some circles, infamous, story Anthem, the differing ideologies of objectivism and collectivism are pit against each other. With objectivism being so tight knit and different from the society in the book, it seems that it would be almost impossible to truly follow in its entirety. However, Anthem, as a whole, doesn’t violate the ideals of Rand’s philosophy of objectivism.
In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, children are often seen living apart from their families. Unfortunately, it’s not their choice, but society is set up such that they are made to live apart. Children are forced to live like this because dictatorial leaders are committed to collectivism. Collectivism is an emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity. Leaders enforce the separation between parents and children in order to maintain collectivism and ultimately have complete control over the children. You and I do not exist; government deems it so. We are one, a single body functioning for the collective good of society. Ayn Rand’s Anthem speaks to this collectivist doctrine while highlighting the implicit contradictions that impede its successful implementation.
Equality 7-2521 struggles in the Home of the Students because he is too intelligent and deft at absorbing information. The ability to think quickly and easily was looked down upon by the teachers and the government. Equality notes, “It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The teachers told us so…” (21). The students are taught that being intelligent is evil and that they cannot be superior in knowledge than the officials in the government. Equality’s intelligence leads to his job as a Street Sweeper because the government wants to suppress radical ideas by assigning him to a socially lower job and authoritative status. As literary critic Tore Boeckmann states about Anthem, “[Equality] belong[s] at the pinnacle of any rational social hierarchy, yet [he is] thrown (at least temporarily) to the very bottom” (135). Overall, the public citizens in Anthem are extremely selfless and lack a sense of self-worth because the government wants them to put the good of the community above the
To begin with, the knowledge of new information from science can spur rebellion among the citizens, insinuated by the tight control shown in the novella. The Council begins to berate Equality for daring to be different from the rest of society. After Equality presents his light discovery Collective
Throughout history, authors have teased their readers with the idea of what the future might bring. Often times these stories are littered with new technology and fascinating theories, but occasionally it is the contrary. In the situation where society has taken a step back, there must be a character to give civilization a kick start. In the novella Anthem, by Ayn Rand, society is bound to collectivism, where everyone relies upon each other to live and learn; but the protagonist, Equality 7-2521, is able to break free from the fear of independence and move toward individualism. During the course of the story, Equality discovers the freedom he can bring himself. Then he realizes his mind is the door to the truth, not society. Finally, Equality recognizes himself as different from the rest of the population. These steps toward individualism are perfectly embodied by three quotes Rand incorporates in her story.
Technology can only take a generation so far; it is the imagination and creativity of an individual that will take the world they live in to a level that technology can only build; a world where highways of a person’s thoughts make the world thrive. In the 19th century it was believed technology had been exhausted, and then individuals, such as Einstein, Planck, and Fleming, took science on their backs and brought their own ideas to life. A generation can thrive together as one, but only through the minds of lone thinkers, who alone can move a generation out of one era and into another. Anthem, a novella written by Ayn Rand, talks of a time where the minds of individuals were eradicated, and a community of clone-like minds replaced creativity and individualism with a sole idea of uniformity. Equality 7-2521 knew that technology was something that could be used for greatness, “This has never been done before, but neither has such a gift as ours ever been offered to men,”(61) but for the world he lived in, technology was an atrocity.
Ayn Rand's Anthem shows us her view of our world united under what seems to be communist rule. For example their view of right and wrong; which Anthem portrays is a system of very strict rules which mainly make sure that everyone is involved in a collective role within the society in this system no one is considered an individual or that they can even think as an individual.
Anthem is a story of man’s struggle to be free and to fight the masses of conformity. It tells of human nature and the want to gain all the knowledge that one could possibly attain. Man loses his safe haven and his security when he lets this lust for knowledge overpower him and lets it be seen by others. He becomes vulnerable Like Johann Faust, Prometheus sells his life for wisdom. Unlike Faust, however, Prometheus is expelled from his society but gains his freedom of individuality and his freedom of knowledge and the ability to understand. In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea sin against society to become singular and understanding much like Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge to gain wisdom; as a result, they can be compared to each other by there desire for learning and by their damnation.
The word collectivism often makes people cringe. Overall, there is a general fear of not being able to make personal decisions in America. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, collectivism can be defined as; emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity (“Collectivism”). In Anthem, Ayn Rand describes an extreme collectivist society. Although Anthem’s society seems extremely surreal, aspects of its collectivist society closely mirror today’s society.
“’We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever’” (Rand 19). In the Anthem society, they have created a unified civilization that has lost all traces of science and knowledge. Living in the dark ages of the future they have reshaped civilization itself. “But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth, ... They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in the Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horses, and of the lights which burned without flame.” (Rand 19). Forbidden to talk about the past,
in his world it was believed that ?What was not thought by all men cannot