Wall-E: An Ugly Toll Of Technology

The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and the film, WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton, are both very similar to considerable dilemmas in the progressing society today. Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E relate to technology isolating people and limiting face-to-face interaction in life today. They are also similar with the role of dependability on technology and more complex futuristic technology coming into play, potentially making society worse for the average person. Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E contain oppressive governments with high control that somewhat contradict the present world. If humans stay on this pathway, futuristic stories, such as Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E, may turn to a reality.

We live in a society where people are becoming more and more dependent on and overwhelmed with technology. Every day something new, better and faster comes out. The rapid advancement of technological innovations has made it harder for people and their minds to catch up with what they are dealing with. With this, more and more people are becoming unable to face reality. Nicholas Carr’s essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is just another example of how rapid technological advancements are changing us without us even realizing.

Ever since its creation, the United States of America has given people the opportunity to speak and practice their own philosophies and religion. As a prime example, transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that gained followers during 1836-1860 that encouraged social reform, self-transformation, and people to rise above their immediate experiences. Developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and lived by Henry David Thoreau, the essence of transcendentalism was to live life with simplicity and to elevate intuition and imagination over logical reasoning. However in today’s society, true transcendentalism is irrelevant and cannot be practiced.

Jean Baudrillard was a philosopher, sociologist, cultural critic, and theorist of postmodernity, who challenged all existing theories of contemporary society with humor and precision. Simulacra and simulation is a philosophical treatise by Jean Baudrillard seeking to examine the relationships among reality, symbols, and society. The importance in baudrillard theory, which I was excited to write about, is that all what he stated in simulation, occupies a big space in our daily life. And after publishing his books, people started to realize that his beliefs and writing was the “deterrence machine”. He wants us to know that the real is no longer real, and illusion no longer impossible, and to think two times after we receive any image, because

Technological advances in Fahrenheit 451 and in modern daily life affect communication skills. In the novel, technology has replaced their books, their imagination, and even their face-to-face conversations. It has taken away people’s thirst for knowledge and impacted the way individuals think. People have become comfortable with “the dependence of technology, the 24/7 availability of the Internet, and our constant use of devices makes us all behave as if we had ADHD” (Rosen).

Nothing says “human nature” like love and individuality. Part of what makes humans unique is our species’ ability to show compassion and caring for our peers and surroundings. Many people, particularly older generations, believe that the overuse of social technology has ruined the appreciation that younger generations have for the world around them. In Ray Bradbury’s stories, “The Pedestrian” and “The Veldt”, he gives examples of how technology could ruin our affiliations to what would be considered human characteristics. In “The Pedestrian”, Bradbury describes a futuristic world in which no one socializes or takes walks because they are so consumed with their televisions with the exception of one man; in “The Veldt”, parents using advanced

Brain Wash Seduction by screens. Everywhere, every turn there’s screens, electronics, video games, and even glasses to wear that have screens inside of them. What has society come to? Addictions to games and social media. Today it’s normal to feed off of the media.

A technological wave has approached us and that wave is known as the Internet. In the recent years, the use of the Internet has increased tremendously as many people use it for numerous reasons. Research that once required days now can be done in minutes. However, some people worry that tool is not benefiting our lives, but is rather making us “stupid.” An American writer, Nicholas Carr, is one of these advocates who believes the Internet is making our mind mush.

“There are so many accountants but it’s so difficult to get somebody, who is a new graduate, but already knows [the job]. [Their] college education should have prepared them for that.” – Lucy Tarriela, Asst. Treasurer, Employers Confederation of the Philippines.

Synthesis Essay New technological advancements are assisting people in their everyday lives, and the future for technology looks bright. But, alas, that which glitters is not always gold. Christian Lange once stated that “Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master” (Christian Lange). Society is becoming more and more reliant on technology, but there may come a time in which people solely rely on it to function.

Has technology changed so immensely over the years that it now controls society? What has it done to control society? Over the years, technology has become one of the society's major resources. This relates to the use of technology to control the World State in Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World. In the present day, we aren’t quite advanced enough to create clones or flying cars, but technology has become more of an everyday tool over the course of time.