Alright, so listening to everyone brain-dump on what happened in Chapter 9 and how it relates to the real world overwhelmed me very quickly. I guess I’m just not good at taking in and retaining a lot of information at one time. And this isn’t just a problem at school. For example, when my mom is leaving the house and she asks me to do more than like two things, I get all stressed out and I make her write it down, which makes her stressed out, which makes me even more stressed out. But hey, this isn’t about my personal issues, this is about how 1984 can be compared to our world today. When I was researching how 1984 is reflective on our society today, BBC had an article on all of the horrors of the novel and a small portion briefly mentioned that “today it is social media that collects every gesture, purchase, comment we make online” instead of the all powerful figure: Big Brother. That really stuck with me because social media is such a common topic right now. Like there’s a constant lecture about how technology is ruining our lives and no one can hold a decent conversation anymore. We hear all of that constantly, but comparing the issue to how Big Brother constantly watches and monitor people in their everyday life to gain information, kinda freaks me out. And it’s true, we give access to our cameras and microphones to nearly every app we have, and things like Alexa and Siri have to be constantly listening in order to pick up when we say their names. The whole idea of privacy is being left behind, and we have shown that we are okay with it. We even make memes about it. Also, the whole thing about altering history and making people believe in whatever the government says, isn’t that far-fetched. In Goldstein’s book, he explains crimestop as “protective stupidity” and “stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought” (Orwell 212). This concept can be directly applied to technology and social media in our world today. If people are focused on staying safe in their little bubble, it’s easier to agree to things right off the bat instead of thinking about it. Many people don’t watch the news or do their own research on issues around the world because they like feeling comfortable. They aren’t aware of their lack of privacy and their constant state of being watched. They like their “protective stupidity”, just like the party members and the proles in George Orwell’s, 1984.
Source: ( http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180507-why-orwells-1984-could-be-about-now)
coffee & contemplation 
I like your connection to today with social media I really wish that social media did not control our lives and I kind of want to delete my accounts. I keep them to stay in the loop with family stuff which makes it difficult to delete.
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You’ve captured one of the central critiques of Orwell’s novel: that our fear of being watched pales in comparison to the need to be seen—that we would willingly choose to create our own Big Brother.
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(I’ll start by saying that the little side story at the beginning was hilarious and I’m so glad you kept it in there!) Anyway, very insightful post. Also liked how you mentioned the whole “people just want to feel comfortable” idea. We oftentimes just take the path of least resistance, making decisions along the way without truly understanding what they mean or their implications (in this case, owning an Alexa or turning location tracking or mic usage for an app like you metioned). In many ways, intellect or wisdom is simply breaking past this wall of comfort we set up.
Anyway, loved the post!
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