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Philip K. Dick's Feed

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Philip K. Dick, a well-known American author who defined modern day science fiction by exploring the fragile nature of reality and identity, once said that, “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them” (Philip K. Dick). Dick’s quote resonates well with our society today because manipulation of not just words, but technology, has manipulated reality. We live in a world where forged realities are manufactured by governments, media, religion, big corporations, and etc. We have accepted the fate of being bombarded with pseudo-realties that are produced by organizations who are capitalizing on society’s consumerist needs and wants. …show more content…

The idea that we will use what we learn from the virtual world about ourselves, about our identity, to live better lives in the real world seems ideal. However, these technologies have been used as tools of exploitation, which has baited us into a make-believe life, as we are slowly being pulled away from a sense of who we are and what really matters. People are practically attached to their smartphones because its multi-purpose features make life seem easier. Our desire not to miss out on anything that might be happening with friends, celebrities, and even trends on social media has fueled this tech addiction. In the novel “Feed” by M.T Anderson, Anderson describes a dystopian future in which most of society is completely superficial, uneducated and influenced by consumerism. A device called, feed, is integrated within the brain and constantly streams games, shows, chats, and ads to the user. Throughout the novel, it’s apparent that most teenagers in the future don’t worry about their own level of intellect and how the feed has them completely ignorant of their natural sense of self and the environment. Education is virtually non-existent and with the help of the feed teenagers only care about having fun and consuming anything of interest that comes up in their feeds. Miraculously enough, while M.T. Anderson was writing about “Feed” to explore his contemporary moment of the internet, the use of the feed can now be seen more accurately as an allegory of how different types of individuals view the popular culture and emergence of the smart phone in

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