Harrison Bergeron Technology

770 Words4 Pages
Obsession with technology has been seen in American literature before, such as “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1961. This was the time period when post modernism was introduced and the written works that were published had the concept of advanced technology. The setting of the short story is a dystopian society in which there is an illusion of a perfect society that is maintained through technology. The citizens are under constant surveillance and are basically dehumanized. Individuality is perceived as a bad characteristic and so many conform to the social norms that were set by the government. The main character named George has a “mental-handicap radio” because he has creative…show more content…
It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains,” as described in the text. Since the government wants to be in control of what happens, the sharp noises are sent to stop people like George from creating new ideas and thoughts. This work of literature foreshadows the life of Americans today, even though it might not be as brutal. Several people, especially teens, conform to the expectations that are posted on social media and the Internet in general. Citizens in “Harrison Bergeron” feared the outside world, just as the people living in America today do. Everyone on social media feels as if it is alright to say rude comments because they are behind a computer screen and remain anonymous. The government in the short story punished those that tried to be different, or those who were naturally born with different views on life. School's, major companies, and government officials think technology is making the country stronger and smarter. They do not realize that it is technology itself that is harming the mind and the…show more content…
It explained the effects that social media had on the level of anxiety amongst the iGeneration(1990-1999). The text stated that “For example, when asked, “If you can’t check in with text messages as often as you’d like, how anxious do you feel?” and nearly half of iGeneration and Net Generation(1980-1989) participants said they would feel moderately anxious to highly anxious.” They then asked the generations about how they would feel if they couldn’t check Facebook, and they said that the amount of anxiety would not be as high as it would for text messages. Many feel the need to know what is going on every second of the day and that is why they have a temptation to scroll down their newsfeed all the time. This investigation also shows how much this obsession with technology has changed throughout the years. The older generations seem to have less accounts on social media and are not as dependent on their phones. The amount of anxiety the participants in the study thought they would have varied from generation to generation, showing a correlation between the two. The Myers Psychology textbook stated that “Sometimes, though, behaviors such as gambling, video gaming, or online surfing do become compulsive and dysfunctional, much like abusive drug taking.” Social media is a drug for some,
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